Subtle Differences
by Dominus of the Dragon
Summary: Deep in the Caverns of Camelot, the Great Dragon roared out, startled from his sleep. Things had changed in the Hands of Destiny. The differences were subtle, but the effects were grand. Kilgharrah lost his sight of the future for it was too foggy to see clearly, he could only hope that the changes were for the better. Pairings: Mergana and Arwen.
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: I don't own Merlin. If I did, I probably wouldn't need to be writing this. Some people have all the luck. Ugh. **

**PS: Another URGENT author's note way down below, enjoy! **

It wasn't exactly the easiest thing for Merlin to wake up. Honestly, staying in bed and sleeping for the rest of...forever sounded way more appealing than the alternative. And speaking of the alternative, he was going to be very late unless he headed out of Ealdor within a couple of hours. So he slowly, and painfully, separated himself from the bed he had slept on for the last 19 years, beads of sweat rolling down his back. Rebellious rays of sunlight bypassed his curtain, dimly illuminating his, admittedly, small room. Stepping away from his bed and going to the kitchen to wash his face, he thought about where exactly it was that he was heading. Camelot.

The thought was almost laughable, "Merlin, in Camelot? Ha! Yeah right." It was true however and he couldn't exactly say that he would last very long, especially given his… abilities. He was, essentially, walking into the lion's den. It was a very dangerous objective to have, but he still wanted to do this. He needed to go, and besides, what better place to hide than in plain sight? Either way, today was a lucky day, because Ealdor's self-proclaimed "starwatcher" Phil had observed on his timetable that the planets would be aligning (nobody believed him, naturally, and just thought that he was a little bit insane), and as a bonus, it was the Seventh day of the Seventh month, a day of good fortune in its own right.

Removing himself from the journey that awaited, Merlin stretched, preparing for the new day, and it would be a busy one, there was plenty to do. Will, his best friend, probably wanted to stir up some mischief in the village before sending him off, and there was the small affair of saying goodbye to his circle of loved ones, a very small circle, admittedly. He liked most of the village, but many were wary of him and his special abilities, and he couldn't quite bring himself to blame them as much as he should. With this on his mind, he stepped out of his room and looked back at it fondly, recognizing that this might be the last time that he would see it in a long time. Turning around, he began searching for his mother, but not finding her anywhere, he deducted that she was probably at a neighbors home.

Merlin took this opportunity to go see Will, but on his way to Will's hut, not too far from his, he spotted old misses Margret, fruitlessly struggling to carry sacks full of potatoes and other vegetables. Walking up to her and offering a smile, he relieved the elderly woman of her burden. She whipped her head around to him so quickly he could have sworn he heard the lash of a whip, her mouth ready to reprimand whoever it was that was attempting to steal her potatoes, she realized that it was Merlin, and he had made no move to leave, only to help her carry her bags.

"Dear Lord, Merlin, you startled me there, it's too early to be sneaking about, young man," She began, "but how kind of you to help out an old lady like me. I'm telling you now young lad, do not let these years of youth go to waste, soon enough you'll feel them leave your very bones, and all that strength. will be gone. My word, have you gotten taller? What has Hunith been feeding you? My, my, I bet you are quite popular among the ladies here, yes?" Smiling merrily, rambling as she accompanied the Warlock to her home.

Merlin blushed at the last bit, acutely aware at the severe lack of attention from the female population in Ealdor. Nonetheless, Merlin responded, "Well, Miss M, I have been eating more meat lately, and I haven't been courting a lady yet", he mumbled the last part, but raised his voice on the next question, hoping to distract her " but how have you been? Doing okay?" He made sure to ask the last questions quickly so she wouldn't have the opportunity to dote on him and his "adorable" ears.

She grinned and dashed Merlin's hopes. "Now you just hold your horses, young man. I could bet you my home that you'll find a nice lass when you're off to the big city. Though you best be careful, I wouldn't want such a nice lad like you getting involved with some street harlot. You're so kind, Hunith should be so proud, she raised a good boy." Merlin appreciated her words greatly. Glad that his mother was proud of him. As he entered Misses M's hovel, he gently placed the sack of potatoes on her dining table, saying, "Well Miss M, it's been a pleasure, but I do have some things to take care of before I head out so I'll have to be leaving, I'm going to miss y—umph!" he yelped as the smaller woman pulled him into a tight hug.

"Now you be careful young man," she said affectionately, "I hope that you have good fortunes on your travels, and that you return very soon. And when you do, you better come back with a nice young lady or so help me God, I will find one for you myself!"

Merlin smiled to her and nodded his head, and with a quick farewell he stepped out of her door, and made it about four strides out before he crashed into a person, and judging by the fact that he wasn't being told off, he safely assumed that it was a person that knew him.

His deductions were proven correct when a hand reached out to help him get up, and a familiar voice saying "How on God's green Earth you are still alive, I don't know. If I stumbled about nearly as much as you do, I could safely say that I would have fallen into a hole by now, I tell you."

Merlin smiled as he took the hand and pulled himself up. It was just the man that he was looking for, Will.

"Well yeah, but that's just because you're a total dunce." Merlin replied. Will intended to hit Merlin upside the head for his very much unnecessary commentary, Merlin barely managed to dodge it, but returned the favor quickly. Soon they got into a skirmish, Merlin using his magic to trip Will up, and Will using his superior strength (and lack of inherent equilibrium instability) as an aid in the tussle. When they were tired, they sat down on some bales of hay nearby.

"So Merls, off to the big boy kingdom, huh?" Will's tone of voice denoted humor, but Merlin sensed a thin layer of bitterness under that. Merlin frowned and patted his friend's back. Will simply gave a grunt of recognition, and looked off sullenly.

"I'll visit, I promise" Merlin swore.

"Yeah, but it'll be awfully boring here without you, you know that right?" Will said.

Merlin nodded, and they both stayed in the silence for a while before Will got up and said, "Well it's no use sitting around moping. Let's go stir up some trouble, eh? For old time's sake?"

Merlin grinned and they both made their way to a nearby tavern, formulating a scheme.

Two hours later, Merlin and Will ran for their lives from the village dollophead (as named by Will), Peter, who took their harmless prank in the wrong way, spoil sport that he was. As they ran out into the woods, and around the village until they were near Hunith's house, they stopped and looked at each other. Merlin looked downtrodden and offered Will a hand, "See you around, mate?" Will took it and pulled him into a hug, giving him two strong pats on the back. "You bet."

As Merlin made his way towards his home, it was about noon. He entered his cozy hut and was instantly overwhelmed by the smell of properly prepared and good food. He saw his mother, Hunith, a short and kind woman with brown hair fading into gray streaks, standing in the kitchen, one hand on her hip and the other spreading some ingredients over a sandwich. He reached for the sandwich but his hand was quite quickly slapped away by his mother. Kindhearted indeed, Merlin thought wryly.

"Ow!" he exclaimed, look at his mother indignantly. She simply gave him a withering glare. "That's for the trip, Merlin." She handed him some bread and water instead, which he ate graciously.

"Now," she said as he munched on his second slice of bread, "I have all of your things packed and you should be prepared to go but I have two things to give you before you do. " He took a gulp of water and looked at her expectantly. "Not right now though." she clarified. Merlin nodded and finished his meal, ready to take on the world.

After making sure that all of his things were indeed packed, he made his way back to where his mother was. He found her sealing a long letter, and he tilted his head curiously, inquiring "Who's that for?"

"An old friend of mine," his mother responded. "Now pay attention, my son, when you get to Camelot you're going to have to ask for a man named Gaius, understand? He'll know what to do and you should be accommodated quickly." Merlin nodded and took the letter, storing it away in one of the pockets of his bag. He turned back to his mother to find her hesitantly unwrapping a book that he had never seen before in his life. It was dusty and ancient, and radiated a sort of power that he wasn't quite familiar with. Before he could ask, however, his mother look at him and said, with misty eyes. "This is-was, your fathers."

Merlin looked at the book reverently. His mother never really made it a habit to talk about his father often, but when she did she spoke of him fondly, describing him as being a kind man, and valiant. But Merlin, not even in his wildest dreams, ever thought that he would receive something like this. He felt anger rise in his chest, he wanted to know why his mother hadn't given to this before, but looking at her now, he couldn't bring himself to ask. The only thing he was able to do at that moment was to breathe out "Really?"

She nodded affirmatively in reply, her voice cracking a little as she responded "H-he told me to give it to you when you set out on a great journey, when you were ready to be a man. He said that you would need it. I don't even know why I kept it to be honest, but I guess that this qualifies as a great journey, doesn't it?" Tears were freely flowing down her face and Merlin pulled her in for a tight hug, tears threatening to jump out of his own eyes.

"Oh Merlin, please do be careful, will you?" The woman who raised him requested.

Merlin released her from the hug, standing up straight with confidence that he didn't have. He placed the book into his bag, next to the letter, and nodded his head.

He made his way out of the door and headed towards Camelot, where great things awaited him.

In a cave far below ground, under a pearl white castle of grandiose the likes that mortal men do not often see, an ancient being, a powerful one, stirred in his sleep.

_**A/N: Hey, to those who don't know me, I'm Dominus of the Dragon, you could call me Dom. I'm pretty new to actually writing in this fandom, so please forgive me if my character sound pretty OOC on occasion, I´m still trying to feel them out and get a good grasp of what they're supposed to be like. Please leave a review if you can, please, they're very very much appreciated. Anyways, this is just an idea that popped into my head. It's simply my take of how the show should have gone. It will be a Mergana story with some Arwen. See you soon hopefully! -Dom**_

**_Anyways, I decided to completely rewrite this story. I decided to combine what was previously chapters 3&amp;4 as well as chapter 6&amp;7\. I hope that the changes are to your liking. I will be uploading the chapters over the course of this weekend. However, because I will have finals up to June 9th, I will not be writing any new chapters next week at all. Once my summer break commences, I should be uploading regularly. I am also currently in the process of writing up an outline for this story. I decided to rewrite it because I felt that I wasn't offering my best to you guys and I wanted to make it better quality. And so I enlisted one of my close friends to be my beta, so credit to Manny for being a total baller. I hope you guys enjoy re-reading this rewritten story of mine. I kept most of it's spirit but I think I greatly enhanced it. Review! - Dom (again)_**

**_PS: I will be posting a similar A/N in chapter 2 just in case_**


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: I do **_**not **_**own Merlin**

Only a couple of hours prior had Merlin embarked on his journey to Camelot, and as he walked through the forest path, carved out by the constant travel of travelers going through it to get to their destinations and by the eager footsteps of many adventurers, he noted the increasingly higher level of darkness that began to surround him. He look out through the green leaves of the trees in his perimeter and saw, to his astonishment, that the sun was quickly setting and that night was beginning to cloak him. He decided to make camp for the night, and watching the mirage of colors in the sky as the sun met the Earth he began to collect wood suitable for a campfire.

Looking down at the small camp that he created, Merlin was immensely impressed with himself, and as he sat down on a nearby log to stare into the fire for a while he fell, _naturally_, and spotted his father's journal, placed in a pocket on the side of his bag. Standing up, he picked up the bag and resumed his position on the log, pulling out his father's journal and something to eat before he went to sleep. He examined the old book with a measure of awe. Up until now, Merlin was convinced that his father was dead. Well, he might have been anyways, but now Merlin had a sense of hope that maybe he was indeed alive and breathing, and that someday he might find him. He didn't particularly need his father, and he didn't mind living with just his mum for company, she was a wonderful woman and raised him to the best of her ability, but sometimes he missed his father, and often wished that he could have met him.

Shaking the thoughts from his head, he cautiously made to open it, looking around him for good measure, only to jump back and land on his arse, _again_, when what appeared to be a dragon forged from fire appeared in midair, holding up a letter without burning it. He didn't know where it came from, but he assumed it came from within the book itself.

Warily, he plucked the letter from the dragon's claws and watched curiously as it disappeared. Blinking to adjust to the new light level, he unsealed the letter gently, and unrolled the parchment. The contents of the letter were written in a beautiful handwriting, letters looping and flourishing in wide arcs, but the language itself was not the one commonly spoken amongst the kingdoms, and yet he understood it. He wondered if it was his magic that allowed him to do so, but did not ponder on it too much as he was quickly drawn in by the words of his father.

"_My son, I know that you don't know me, and that is my fault. As I hope your mother told you, my name is Balinor, and I am the last of the Dragonlords. I know that it would seem that I have abandoned you and your mother, but know that I never did so of my own will. And everything I did, even leaving you, my only son, was for the sake of the two people I loved most in the world: your mother and you. I left because I had to protect you from a very evil man, a man who would give everything that is his, and everything that isn't, so that he may see me burned at the stake._"

Merlin, continued reading, holding back the emotions manifesting themselves in his eyes.

_"This man is named Uther Pendragon, and he is the one who condemned all magic, dismissed all who practice it, or are born of it, like you and me. More importantly, he is a very broken man, and a confused one. He has done many horrible things, but do not hate him, not for my sake nor yours, but pity him, son. Ignorance, hatred and fear brought him to be a shadow of his former self, and I would tell you more but I don't have much time. He'll be coming for me and I need to leave soon, if not I'll be putting your mother at risk, and you by extension. Hunith did not tell me that she was with child until a couple of minutes ago, and I'm glad that she did, else I might have left without knowing._

_I would warn you, son, never to step into that Forsaken Kingdom, but if you are anything like Hunith, or anything like me, then I doubt that it would be easy to stop you, so all I ask is that you be careful and that you be caring. I am magically tied to this book by blood, and so everything that I and my forefathers before me know is written within it, and everything that you will learn, will one day be written here for your children as well. More letters like these will appear to you in times of need, and I hope that they could help you. Just know that I am alive and well, safe, but quite a ways away from Ealdor, from home. Do not seek me, son, one day, we will meet when you and I least expect it._

_Before I conclude this letter, I have two things to tell you that are of great importance. When you arrive to Camelot, as that is probably where you will be going in the future, ask for Gaius. He will be a good guide, and he will take care you, protect you and teach you. Finally, deep under the caverns of Camelot, there hides a Great Dragon, a truly giant creature, strong, wise, and powerful. I call him the overgrown lizard. Unfortunately though, he is the last of his kind, and he must be protected. He is will be very upset, and you will learn why. He will, for the most part, tell you the truth about your Destiny, but he is not above using these very truths to manipulate you, son. Tread with caution around him. And deflate his ego every now and then, he needs it._

_We will meet soon, son, and I look forward to that day._

_Be caring, be brave, be kind, be wise and above all, be who you are meant to be,_

_With love, your father,_

_Balinor"_

Merlin contemplated the letter, reading it again and again as tears escaped his eyes, rolling down his cheeks and making their way to the soft ground below his feet. It was more than he could have wished for, more than he could have hoped for. Silently, he opened the book and held out the letter. The small dragon reappeared, grabbed the letter and disappeared again, temporarily leaving Merlin dazed. The young warlock scanned through the contents of the book, finding all sorts of notes and spells and theories, written in a variety of different handwriting styles, but all were in the dragon tongue, as he learned from the third page of the book. It was essentially everything that he could ever want to learn about magic.

Smiling as he looked at a small note on the inside cover of the leather-bound red book, he found two interesting spells that he would make use of soon. One was to hide the book from the sight of anyone except himself, and the other was to allow only himself or anybody that he allowed to read its contents. Additionally, for the hell of it, Merlin played around with a couple of glamour spells on tome. Anyone who saw it would see not a magic spell book, but rather a plain old tome.

Looking up and stretching, Merlin noted that the stars were already high in the sky, shining brightly. It seemed that he had wasted hours looking through the book. Finally, with a smile on his face and light in his soul, he closed the book, placed it securely in his bag, put out the fire, and went into a restful sleep.

{(O)}

Somewhere not so far away, Kilgharrah, the last dragon, roared in triumph deep in the caverns of a large castle. Somewhere within that castle however, a girl with flowing black hair and emerald eyes jolted into wakefulness, feeling a sort of euphoria from her interesting dream. She chucked at the image of the boy with black hair and large ears. _I bet whoever that is could fly with ears like that_, she thought. Amused at her own wits, she smiled to herself and went back to sleep, forgetting the image completely when she woke up, and finding it strange that she did not have a bad dream for a very, very long time.

{(O)}

Dawn with her rose red fingers caressed Merlin awake gently. Sunlight pouring through the tree's leaves, Merlin woke up. The weather in the continent was, in general, either really nice or not so much. Today was the former. The sky was a deep blue, and the temperature was tolerable, the signs of spring truly notable. Merlin smiled at himself thinking, H_ardly a cloud in the sky, with my luck, there will be a storm by the time that I get to Camelot_.

Having gotten ready for the day and erased all evidence of his campsite, Merlin continued making his way through the path, listening to birds chirp around him and the movement of a stream to his left. After about another two hours of walking, Merlin was ready to bring his trek to a small halt, if only to get something to eat, but caught a glimpse of a large white tower in contrast to all of the trees. A small smile broke onto his face and so he made kept going, not wiling to stop now. _I'm almost there_.

After a little bit more walking, he made his way to a large gate, looking up in wonder to the largest structure he had seen in his entire life. The castle itself was pearly white, and it was large, a sprawling building that must have stood for centuries. Walking through the gate after stating his business, he was met with the sight of bustling markets, and a little bit upwards, the lower villages. There, he ran into a very nice dark-skinned girl named Gwen, who offered to help him with anything that he needed. Merlin smiled at her, and a thought occurred to him, prompting him to ask, "Oh by the way, do you happen to know a man named Gaius? And maybe where I could find him?"

Gwen smiled in delight nodding, "Gaius, yes of course, I was just doing a chore for him actually."

Merlin looked down and noted that she was carrying a rather heavy looking bucket. "Do you need help?" he offered.

"No, it's okay, I could carry it" She said, but seeing that she struggled with it a little, Merlin offered a warm smile and took it anyways.

They made their way up the lower villages, Merlin tying as hard as possible not to embarrass himself, and eventually found their way into the main courtyard, Gwen telling him all about the city until his head was spinning.

There in the courtyard a large gathering seemed to be amassed.

"What's going on over there?" Merlin asked his new friend.

She shook her head in disgust "It would seem that _another_ execution is taking place."

Merlin felt his stomach lurch, he had a bad feeling about what the answer would be, but he asked her anyways, "What for?"

"Sorcery." Was her simple reply, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. _Which it kind of is_, Merlin thought, _considering where we are_.

The warlock's insides seemed to twist and turn and drop just like the blade that was looming over the head of the "criminal" would be doing soon. He took a couple of calming breaths as reality began to set in, and he became acutely cognizant of the fact that it very well could have been him on that platform getting executed.

As the blade fell upon the man's head, so did Merlin's optimism about Camelot. Everything seemed menacing, the sky now seemed bleak, the people savage, the castle dark, and the future dangerous. Averting his eyes from the execution he looked up, trying to regain a sense of hope and saw three things, or rather, people that caught his attention. The first was a wary old man in his fifties, maybe sixties. His face was scarred and his eyes were grey, cold, and hardened by battle.

To his right was a younger man, seemingly about Merlin's age, maybe a little bit older. He held himself proudly, almost too proudly, but seemed distinctly uncomfortable with the execution. Above them, slightly to the right, was the most beautiful woman in the entire Kingdom. She had cascading black hair, and an aristocratic face, royalty incarnate, and she was definitely disturbed by the events that transpired. He was distracted, however, by a horrible wailing.

"You killed my son!" An old woman yelled in anguish, pointing a bony old finger at the man that Merlin assumed to be the King of Camelot, Uther Pendragon. His father told him that he shouldn't hate the man, but Uther was certainly not making a very good impression.

"You killed him! And so you will pay! An eye for an eye, a son for a son!" The witch declared as she disappeared in a swirl of smoke and wind before the guards could reach her. The crowd looked at where she had been in shock for a couple of minutes before dispersing in murmurs and going about their daily lives.

Merlin looked to Gwen and saw her staring at him, trying to gauge his reaction to the events that transpired. Merlin nodded sadly and motion for her to continue walking with him to Gaius' Quarters. She dropped him off right in front of the door, excusing herself saying that she had to tend to the Lady Morgana, whoever that was. Merlin bid her goodbye and thanked her before entering the room, only to find an old man falling to his death.

**A/N: Hello! Not much to say, I hope this chapter came out better and that you enjoyed it. Anyways, take the time to review and stuff. - Dom**

**URGENT: !****_Anyways, I decided to completely rewrite this story. I decided to combine what was previously chapters 3&amp;4 as well as chapter 6&amp;7\. I hope that the changes are to your liking. I will be uploading the chapters over the course of this weekend. However, because I will have finals up to June 9th, I will not be writing any new chapters next week at all. Once my summer break commences, I should be uploading regularly. I am also currently in the process of writing up an outline for this story. I decided to rewrite it because I felt that I wasn't offering my best to you guys and I wanted to make it better quality. And so I enlisted one of my close friends to be my beta, so credit to Manny for being a total baller. I highly encourage for you to go back and take a look at chapter 1, I changed a couple of things. I kept most of it's spirit but I think I greatly enhanced it. Review! - Dom (again)_**

**_Special thanks to my beta Manny, he's a half-decent individual. _**


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer: I really don't own Merlin, or do I?**

It didn't take more than a second before the old man was no longer falling, at least, not in the eyes of Merlin, now glowing golden with power. Time stopped around warlock and he quickly looked around for something that the old man could land on. Walking around the small room and avoiding the splinters from the broken wooden rail, he grabbed a small cot and pulled it right under the floating form of the old man. Now sure that the old man would come to no harm, Merlin released the spell, allowing the man he presumed was Gaius to fall safely onto the cot. Sighing in relief, he made to move towards the Court Physician but was stopped as Gaius got up and began to yell up a storm.

"Are you mentally ill? The king would have you executed right on the spot! Who are you anyways?!"

Merlin quickly became red in response, embarrassed sheepishness leaking into his voice "I'm Merlin, I was sent here by Hunith, you're Gaius right?"

"Oh! You're Hunith's son! My word, how time has passed. You've certainly grown quite a bit. Very well, did she send a letter with you?"

Merlin nodded, ears still tainted red. He searched his bag, looking for his mother's letter to Gaius. He found it after a few awkward seconds and unrolled the parchment with his mother's delicate handwriting on it, handing it to Gaius, who took it gently and began reading its contents. Gaius read it with a measure of delight, giggling and chuckling every now and then. It was only when he released a hardy laugh that Merlin became suspicious. He narrowed his eyes, trying to imagine what it was that his mother had written.

Gaius put the offending letter down on the table with a grin, pointing at a door on the other side of the room dismissively, "I have another room for you right over there, and if you need anything just let me know."

Merlin nodded, and made his way to the small room. Looking around, he found it comfortable enough. It was bigger than his room back in Ealdor, and it certainly had a better view as it granted him a view of the city below, but he still felt decidedly homesick.

Sitting down on the bed he would be sleeping on indefinitely, he let out a sigh. It wasn't a sigh of any particular sorts, it was just a sigh. He wasn't really tired or disappointed with the city or anything, it's just that he was scared, as hard as it was for him to admit it. He was a being _made _of magic, living in a place where even the very slightest hint or implication of magic granted him instant death. Furthermore, the knowledge that he was in the very same castle as the instigator of the Purge, the very same who hunted his father for years, the man who would "give everything he had, and everything that he didn't" so that people like him would be dead, weighed on his mind very heavily.

Deciding that he needed to step out for some air, Merlin made his way out of his small room and into the Physician's main chamber. Gaius looked up from his book and watched Merlin, saying "Merlin, reading your mother's letter and seeing you here, I know that you are probably aware, however I feel the need to remind you that magic is forbidden here in Camelot."

"Yes, my mother made it clear to me. I just saw someone get executed for sorcery, actually."

Gaius raised his eyebrow, "That further solidifies the point that you must not use your magic for frivolous things. As Court Physician, I do tend to get regular visits from all sorts of people from many different stations, even the king himself comes to visit every now and then. You must not use your magic unless absolutely necessary, understand?"

Merlin nodded, "I understand."

Gaius stared at him searchingly for a moment longer, saying "Though Merlin, I do suppose I should say thank you."

Merlin grinned at him in acknowledgment of his gratitude and made his way back to his bed, taking a well-deserved nap.

Gaius was slightly disturbed about the contents of the letter, no matter how humorously Hunith painted her words. The boy was positively and undoubtedly special, there was no doubt about that. Gaius could basically feel the power rolling off of him. In that moment he decided to take care of him, to cultivate him into the great man that he could be, like Hunith had asked him to. He giggled to himself again at her other request "And for God's sake," she wrote, "put some muscle on the poor boy, the highest concentration of strength in his entire body is in his ears!"

Gaius chuckled once again, picking up a vial of some green liquid to his left, studying it carefully. _Back to work_ he thought to himself.

Early that morning, Merlin heard his name being called repeatedly. It was getting so annoying that he actually responded to the voice, mumbling he spoke into his pillow "Shut up, will you?" He shot up from his bed, now wide awake. Looking around his room wildly, he came to the rational conclusion that he must have been going crazy. _One day here and I've already just about gone insane _he thought. Shaking his head, he made to return to blissful sleep but just as his head hit the pillow Gaius burst into the room saying merrily "Good morning Merlin, come on, get up, you have plenty to do today." Merlin groaned, but got up and took the bowl of food that Gaius handed him, who began speaking again.

"Eat up child, I've got many errands to accomplish and now that I have an extra pair of legs around here, I'm going to take advantage of the opportunity as much as I can. I need you to go fetch me a bucket and a couple of herbs too, here's the list. You could find most of these in the fields. Every name has a brief description on the side to help you identify them. I've even included a drawing of the plants." Gaius said proudly.

Merlin took the list as he finished eating, looking it over. He doubted that the drawings would be especially useful in helping him identify the plants (Gaius was a much better physician than an artist), but appreciated the effort anyways. Standing up he grabbed the bucket that he was to fill, and thanked Gaius for the food and the list. Making his way out of the Physician's Chambers, he paid careful attention to the way that he left, so that he could begin memorizing the layout of the castle.

After going out into the fields for an hour or two, he finally finished picking up a quantifiable amount of herbs for Gaius and began making his way up to the mid-towns of the castle to fill his bucket and filled it to the brim.

He began taking the bucket and the bag full of herbs to Gaius when he spotted an injustice occurring a little ways off ahead. He moved closer and saw what was happening a little bit more clearly. A young man with a neatly groomed head of golden hair, equipped with armor and a sword, was attacking and teasing a defenseless servant. Merlin felt a small amount of indignation bubbling in his veins, manifesting itself in his words. "Hey! Leave him alone!" Merlin bellowed out as he neared the group with the intent to defend the poor servant at any cost.

The offender and a couple of other armor-clad men turned to see who was stupid enough to challenge them, but promptly burst into fits of laughter as they took in Merlin's skinny frame and musculature, or lack thereof. A small part of him suggested that _hey, maybe this isn't such a good idea _but he quickly shut it down, taking heart and approaching the group until he was near enough to clearly distinguish their faces.

"What are you going to do about it?" the golden-haired knight asked him incredulously with an arched eyebrow reminiscent of Gaius and an arrogant smirk smearing his face.

"I'll take his place." Merlin replied quickly, eager to spare the poor servant from any further mistreatment. Another burst of laughter followed, which died out as quick as it started as the group realized that Merlin was completely serious.

The apparent leader of the group, the blondie, didn't take him too seriously, but decided to humor the peasant, agreeing to the terms despite knowing that he would positively _destroy_ the stupid lad.

The fight in itself lasted about seven minutes and twenty-two seconds. Merlin was acutely aware of this because he kept count of every second that he was still alive. When the knights handed him a sword to fight the leader with, a look of pity upon their faces, Merlin knew he was in trouble. After the fight commenced, he made sure that he kept count of every moment that he was still breathing, grateful. Arthur, as Merlin learned the name of his opponent was from the cheers of the knights, was quite a fierce fighter. He couldn't use magic out-right against Arthur; else he would have won very quickly. However, Merlin was competent with a sword (to a degree) and that was all that he needed.

He knew a thing or two about swordplay, having read a couple of books about it when he was a kid (to be fair, one of them _was_ a picture book), but most of his ability came from summer days fighting with some branches against Will, who was naturally gifted and took it upon himself to teach his clumsy friend.

His thoughts were quickly pushed away however, when Arthur brought a heavy overhead swing against Merlin. Contemplating his life decisions, Merlin blocked the sword with a _clang_ of steel. Using small bits of magic along the way, using any small advantage to make his odds better, he kept on fighting against his talented opponent.

**-Arthur-**

Arthur Pendragon was having plenty of fun with his friends. He was 'training' with one of his useless servants ( who couldn't take a hit without whimpering) as a form of punishment because the poor idiot thought it would be a wise idea to steal from his bedroom. This went on for a while, but then suddenly things took a very quick turn. He turned around as a skinny and gentle-looking peasant with a mop of black hair and ears fit for an elephant walked towards the group angrily, shouting something that Arthur couldn't quite make out.

To be honest, it was one of the most ridiculous things that he had seen all day, or weeks for that matter. The next thing that he knew, he was stuck in a duel with some brave idiot who probably couldn't even defend himself. When the boy had challenged him, Arthur had half a mind (Morgana, the kings ward, often said that he _did_ only have half a mind) to put him in the stocks right on the spot, but withheld, figuring that it would be a killer for the mood and not a very easy thing to explain to his father. So he agreed, deciding to humor his stationary inferior, feeling less than threatened.

It was only about two minutes into the fight that Arthur began to feel impressed, and so were most of his knights, he would wager. Not very many people could manage to hold against him for even a minute, and yet here was this stupid peasant who looked like he couldn't tell one end of a sword from the other to save his life, lasting twice as long as many of his own knights. If he didn't know any better, Arthur would have assumed that it was magic. But no, the big-eared dollophead in front of him seemed to...innocent and idiotic to even be able to memorize the simplest of evil incantations of which he had seen and heard many evil sorcerers chant.

The fight continued with constant clashing and bashing, blocking and parrying as Arthur fell to the floor more often than he had in his entire life for some reason. This frustrated Arthur to no end, but he was relieved of his burden when five minutes later there was a breakthrough in the battle. The clumsy oaf in front of him tripped on his own two feet and was now on the ground, his sword skidding away. Arthur smiled triumphantly, pointing his blade right at the other man's face. _Time to teach this idiot a lesson_, Arthur thought.

**-Merlin-**

Merlin gulped nearly audibly as there was a rather sharp and pointy object being pointed, _no pun intended_, right at his face. Merlin nearly went cross-eyed looking at the tip of the blade. Arthur had a smug look plastered on his face, though it was counteracted by a respectful look in his eyes, but Merlin didn't see it and was damned annoyed, but he had other matters to think about at the moment. Like the end of his considerably short life and such.

"You must be a special kind of idiot, you know that?" his victorious opponent told him.

Merlin didn't miss a beat and said "And _you_ must be a special kind of prat."

Arthur laughed saying, "You are positively, right. I am a _royal_ prat, actually, as in, I'm the prince."

"Of prats." Merlin supplemented, as Arthur realized that he had just called himself a "royal prat".

The prince shook his head, and ordered some of his knights to put Merlin in the stocks for an hour. "I'd put him in the dungeons," he said, "but he put up a good fight."

It was only as he was being hauled away by two burly knights that Merlin recognized Arthur as the man that he had seen standing by Uther on the day of the execution. _Oh, whoops_ thought Merlin.

{(O)}

Merlin loved getting rotten fruit pelted at him, really, he did, but it quickly became an annoyance when he had other things to do. So once his time was up, he nearly ran to collect the herbs he dropped and to refill the bucket he spilled over during the fight. After doing this he made his way back up to Gaius' chambers with the speed of a wild hog and walked in to see his patron speaking with a gorgeous woman with what Merlin would describe as emerald eyes, and a very form fitting dress. He recognized her on some level as the woman he saw on the window sill just the other day.

Merlin very nearly dropped his bucket at the sight of her and he stood at the entrance of the room awkwardly. She looked him over curiously with a tilted head, while Gaius arched his eyebrow (naturally) in mild amusement at his ward's antics.

"Hi." Merlin said lamely, the tips of his ears rapidly becoming redder than the tomato pieces stuck in his hair, though his words came out as more of a statement than a greeting.

Morgana took pity on the poor physician's assistant, saying "I heard what you did today, very impressive, I think Arthur deserved it, and you certainly deflated his head a little. I suppose I should say thank you."

Merlin nodded, and rubbed the back of his head sheepishly "It was nothing, I saw him bothering a servant and I didn't think it was particularly nice, or fair for that matter."

She nodded understandingly "Gaius here has been telling me all about you. Where are you from?"

"Ealdor" he responded, more comfortable now that he wasn't being complimented, "It's about a two days ride from here"

"Isn't that just on the border of Cenred's Kingdom?" She asked, remembering her lessons with the Castle historian Geoffrey of Monmouth.

Merlin nodded, "Yeah, it's a small village, but it's lovely."

"So what brought you here?" She asked, with a lilt in her accent.

"Erm...just some complications, and I wanted to go see the city and the such. Plus Gaius here is getting on with the years, he'll need my help." He stated cheekily, throwing a look at the physician who watched the exchange with amusement, but tossed a sharp look back at his young ward his eyebrow rising even further.

Morgana laughed "Indeed." Standing up from her place on the bench, she looked at the Physician and said "Thanks again for the potion, Gaius, I'll come by again soon."

Merlin moved aside so that she may pass through the door but looked up as she spoke to him again. "It was nice meeting you Merlin, I'm the lady Morgana, by the way. You can call me Morgana."

The warlock smiled and said "It was nice meeting you as well, my lady."

She nodded and made her way out of the door and down the hall.

Merlin closed the door and turned around, feeling like an idiot as pieces of fruit stuck out of his hair.

He turned to Gaius, who simply stared at him, a twinkling in his eyes.

"What?" Merlin asked indignantly.

Gaius shook his head and muttered something about psychology in response. Merlin simply arched his own eyebrow in turn and went off to wash himself before the feast.

Merlin was finally cleansed of the rotten fruits and vegetables stubbornly stuck to his hair, and he smelled far better than he had a couple of minutes prior. Putting on his clothing, he pulled on his jacket and put on his standard neckerchief. He left his room and entered the healing station which Gaius also used as his living room, noting that Gaius too, was clean and wearing a new set of robes.

"Ready, m'boy?"

Merlin nodded, nervous for his first royal feast. He held out the door for the man that had taken him under his wing and they stepped out of the Physician's Chambers and into the Grand Hall, which had been refitted for the celebrations. Said hall was beautifully decorated and strategically illuminated, offering the most amount of light to all parts of the room with as little amount of candles being used as possible.

Merlin looked around and saw people dressed in fashionable robes conversing, royals no doubt, and servants bustling about bringing food to their masters. No expenses were spared and it was very apparent. Some people even stopped their conversations to take a good look at the Physician's Apprentice, making Merlin stare down at the floor in embarrassment. For such a big castle, all of its residents sure did seem to know each other quite well.

He continued wondering at the room until he spotted Arthur and his Knights, well decorated in fancy robes, messing around like a bunch of overgrown children. Merlin shook his head and made to look away so as not to draw attention to himself, but saw that Arthur stopped laughing and was completely focused on a moving point.

Merlin followed his gaze and saw Morgana, wearing an even more provocative dress than before. She had her cascading black hair up in a bun, a strand or two escaping their binding and framing her face beautifully. She was a vision in velvet, gliding through the crowd with the grace of a goddess. She spared him a glance and he was caught in a momentary eternity, her green eyes capturing him. He felt ashamed of himself for staring at her for so long but it was very difficult not to. And besides, it wasn't that much of an issue considering that almost every other single man in the room was staring at her too, even the married ones.

He was promptly pulled out of his stupor when Gaius looked at him, exclaiming in a whisper "Merlin! Remember that you are here to work, not to partake in ogling!" Merlin nodded, and was going to respond when Gwen, who he had only seen around the castle sparingly, came to stand next to him.

"She looks quite lovely, doesn't she?" Gwen asked enthusiastically, proud of her handiwork. Merlin just now registered that Gwen had mentioned that she was the Lady Morgana's handmaiden, and came to the conclusion that Gwen spent a lot of time with the king's ward.

Nevertheless, he agreed with her statement, impressed that a woman like Morgana even existed in the mortal realm.

"Some people are just born to be queen." Gwen sighed, looking content at her handiwork.

"_No_." Merlin said, looking at her incredulously, disgusted by the thought of Arthur with a woman like Morgana, who clearly deserved much better than that total prat.

"I hope so, she deserves to be queen, not that I'd want to be her, after all, who would want to marry _Arthur_?" Merlin agreed with her assessment and was beginning to form a response when the doors of the Grand Hall were opened slowly and dramatically by some guards. A beautiful, though slightly older, woman walked through, and when her presence was noted all the nobles took a seat, while the servant lined themselves behind their masters or against a wall or a column.

The woman, fashionably dressed in gold and white, began to sing. Her voice was beautiful, comforting and it seemed to penetrate his mind and grant him serenity. Merlin appreciated her musical talent very much and listened to her sing until he noted that something felt off. Around him, people were falling asleep and the lights began to dim as cobwebs began manifesting themselves everywhere. He too began to feel the effects of her song and connected the dots quickly.

Panicking, he covered his ears and felt the drowsy sensation he had been beginning to feel before fade away. In horror, he watched as she slowly began approaching the main table where Morgana, the King and Arthur were seated. She slowly began pulling out a dagger and was getting nearer to Arthur with every excruciatingly slow step that she took. Merlin looked around the room frantically, eyes wide, trying to find a way, any way, that he could stop the enchantress. He noticed that she was right under a large iron ceiling lamp and he wasted no time in waving his hand at it with a flash of his eyes, cutting the chains and allowing for gravity to play its role. The lamp fell, crushing her and ending her spell.

But the sleeping spell wasn't the only spell that was canceled as her glamor charm was ended as well, and in place of the beautiful lady was a gnarled and battered old witch. As everyone began to wake up and stare at her with disgust and a quantifiable amount of fear, she realized that her plans had been foiled.

In a desperate attempt to accomplish her goal, she lifted her arm and threw her dagger right where Arthur stood with her last dying breath. Time stopped for Merlin again, and he launched himself at the prince, pulling him out of the way as time resumed as quickly as it had stopped. The dagger impaled the wooden throne where Arthur had been asleep a few minutes prior with a resounding thud.

Everyone in the room stared at Merlin with a measure of awe and respect as they realized that he had saved the prince's life. Uther rose from his chair and looked at Merlin intently, stating "You saved my boy's life."

There was a pause, but the king continued "You must be rewarded."

Merlin tried to argue feebly, "Well..."

"No, no, don't be so modest, this calls for some merit, you shall be rewarded with a position in the Royal Household" Uther declared. Merlin's insides burned with excitement and hope at the announcement. Was he going to be a noble now?

"You shall be Arthur's manservant!" Uther stated with grandiose, quite proud of his goodwill, as he walked past the pair and went to consult with the guards.

All of the other nobles and servants began clapping as Arthur protested feebly "Father!"

Merlin simply stared at the ground, once again rethinking his decisions in life, and then up at Gaius, who was infinitely amused with the situation. Gwen herself felt quite sympathetic towards the poor man, knowing how Arthur acted.

The only person there who had not partaken in the clapping was Morgana, who had a frown on her face as she had seen something that _had_ to have been a hallucination. When the lady had begun singing, Morgana felt drowsy, but seeing that everyone else had fallen asleep, she caught on quickly and covered her ears. Then something else happened, time stopped. It seemed that she was the only one who could move, but it was over almost as quickly as it happened, and the lady, now taking the form of the woman who's son was executed a day ago, was crushed by a fallen lamp, a most convenient happenstance. Her eyes focused on Arthur's new manservant, who looked very much uncomfortable. She shook the strange occurrence from her head, however, and put it down to her having had too much to drink.

{(O)}

As he lay in his bed, slightly miffed at the events that transpired, Merlin groaned in frustration. Now he was stuck being the prat's manservant, and it was considered a "reward". He mockingly mimicked Uther's words from a few hours ago to himself. He started blowing out his candles in order to get some sleep when he heard it again. This time the voice was more urgent than before.

"Merlin," he heard in his mind, "come to me, I am in the dungeons. Follow the path."

At this point, the warlock was extremely confused, and more than a little bit frightened. He blinked his eyes and a golden lined manifested itself on the ground, glowing in the darkness of his room. He followed its path and saw that it meant to lead him out of his room. Merlin sighed, knowing that this would get him in trouble but he followed it anyways.

The golden line went deep into the castle and he followed, avoiding a couple of guards every now and then. After a little while, he was led to a room where some guards were playing with a some dice on the table. He distracted them by throwing the dice across the room with a flash of his eyes. They both got up and looked at each other warily. They followed the dice into a broom closet, and when they both entered Merlin closed and locked the door behind them. Smirking he made his way down a deep cave and found himself in a gigantic opening where a giant creature with golden scales and wings, easily double the size of the castle walls stared down at him.

"Hello young warlock."

Merlin was used to magical creatures by now, It's not like they were particularly rare to encounter for people like him. He mildly recalled once meeting a talking fish in a pond near the outskirts of Ealdor, and another time that he found himself with a small lizard made of fire. The creature that was looking down at him was no small lizard. The dragon looked at him for another moment and curved his mouth into what Merlin could only assume was a dragon's version of a smirk.

"What a small vessel for a power so great, and a destiny so grand. So grand that it is to overshadow that of all mortal men who once were, are, and are yet to be. If I am to be honest with you, young warlock, I expected you to be less thin."

Merlin huffed, firing back "You must be the overgrown lizard."

"I am Kilgharrah, and it would seem that you are indeed Balinor's son."

Merlin nodded proudly. "I am."

"Very well," said Kilgharrah, "you and I have much to discuss."

Merlin didn't speak, allowing the dragon to proceed.

"You must be wondering why it is that I summoned you here. Why it is that you were born with and of magic."

"Well, no actually, I was wondering what you do down here for recreation and stuff. I mean, like, do you have any hobbies or?"

"Merlin," the dragon continued, ignoring his comments, "there is a reason for your gift. Your destiny. It is great indeed. And do you, perchance, know what it is?"

Growing serious, Merlin shook his head. "What is it?"

"Arthur Pendragon is the Once and Future King of Albion. He will unite the land and do away with Uther's persecution on Magic." Every word that the dragon spoke resounded with power and eons of wisdom, but despite that Merlin laughed incredulously.

"What does that have to do with me?" He asked the dragon.

"Everything!" Barked back the dragon. "He faces threats from friends and foes alike, and _you_, Merlin, are to be his protector, adviser and greatest friend. It has been foretold and I have seen it with my own eyes, for it is the Will of things much higher above you and I." He breathed out, ground rumbling.

"Yeah, right. Look, have you even met the idiot? There has to be another Arthur, you've got the wrong one! He's arrogant and rude and obnoxious. I very much doubt that he will be the salvation of Magic. Honestly, if someone were to try to kill him, let them go ahead. Hell, I might even give them a hand myself."

The Great Dragon laughed. "You wouldn't."

Merlin growled, saying "Well, then, you'll be very glad to know that I already did save his life. And now, as a reward, I get to be his manservant!"

Kilgharrah only smiled at that, bearing his long and sharp teeth. "You are a legend and a will be for millions of years to come. You and Arthur will never be forgotten, for you are the Great and Powerful Emrys and he is the Once and Future King. You must protect him at all cost or there will be no Albion! But more than this, without you Arthur will die! And if he dies, the world will shatter, and magic shall be gone forever. Arthur must live, else Magic will die with him." Kilharrah said gravely.

With a flap of his large wings, the dragon flew away, further into the dark nicks and crooks of the large cavern, leaving Merlin with much to say, and more questions to ask.

_So this is what he does for fun, he speaks in riddles_ Merlin thought to himself.

{(O)}

"Merlin, have you _seen_ the state of this room?" a voice Merlin recognized as Gaius asked him.

He woke up with a flutter of his eyes, saying sleepily "I don't know, it just happens!"

"By magic?" Gaius inquired sarcastically.

"Yeah" Merlin said, sitting up In his bed.

Gaius rolled his eyes "Yes well, you can clean up the mess. Without magic. And I need you to do a couple of things. I have some herbs for you to pick up and I need you to deliver a vial to the Lady Morgana. Poor girl's been suffering from nightmares again."

Merlin nodded, getting up and commencing his morning rituals: washing his mouth, bathing and halfheartedly trying to sort out his hair. He walked down the halls of Camelot's castle, looking for the Lady's chamber.

Finding it wasn't too difficult considering that it was only a couple of halls down from Gaius'. Her door was open and he stood by it, watching as she picked out a couple of dresses. He knocked on the mahogany door and cleared his throat, hoping to grab her attention.

She looked up and greeted him in. "Merlin, hello!"

"Milady, I came to deliver this for Gaius."

"Yes of course, just put them on that table there" she instructed, pointing at an ornate desk in front of a window that looked down on the castle courtyard.

"So Merlin, busy day?" she asked.

Merlin nodded and she smiled in amusement. "Busy nights too, I'd say. Tell me Merlin, are you always playing hero, or do these things just happen by chance?" Her smirk was playful but Merlin found himself stammering anyways.

"These things just kinda happen I guess. Trouble always finds me." He just realized that she was referring to the way that Merlin saved Arthur the other day.

"Well I'm glad that you were there, Merlin, he may be rude sometimes but Arthur is the closest thing I have to family. But I suppose that you're stuck with him now."

"Yeah" Merlin sighed.

"Well, if it were up to me, I would have granted you some land." She said.

"I can barely manage walking on a flat surface without tripping up, I'm not quite sure that I'm fit to rule over land." Merlin said wryly.

"Don't be so modest, Merlin. You know, Gwen talks about you a lot, I could see why." Morgana said, smirk on her face. "Can you do me a favor?"

Merlin raised an eyebrow, awaiting her request.

"Send her my way if you see her when you leave. I'd be eternally grateful."

Merlin nodded and bid her farewell.

Morgana watched him as he walked out with curiosity when something clicked. He had looked awfully familiar to her when she first met him and she just remembered why. He was the boy from the dream. The one with the big ears, blue eyes and the mop of black hair. She went out after him but only found an empty hallway.

She shook her head, deciding that she wouldn't mention it, as perhaps it would make her sound crazy. She returned her attentions to her plants, waiting for Gwen to return.

{(O)}

_Deep in the Caverns of Camelot, the Great Dragon roared out, as he was startled from his sleep. Things had changed in the Hands of Destiny. The differences were subtle, but the effects were grand._

_Kilgharrah lost his sight of the future for it was too foggy and too dynamic to see clearly. There was only one thing that could heal him and only one person who could help. It would have to wait for now however, he could not see into the future but he could still see the present._

_He witnessed all of the happenings of the land with his Dragon's Eye. Even now, things were changing. Nimueh plotted her revenge, a young boy smiled among his druid family, The Fisher-King stood from his seat and the Lake of Avalon rippled._

_Yes, things were changing, becoming more and more different. Some things were going to stay the same as before The Change, but there were things that had to be different. No matter how subtle the differences were. Kilgharrah could only hope that it was by the hands of Destiny rather than the doings of some primeval foe. He laid down his head to continue to rest, wondering how these changes were going to alter his plan for revenge on Uther, if at all._

**A/N: Hello again! Another chapter! I hope you enjoyed it. Anyways, I'd just like to thank you and ask for you to review please because those keep me going. Also, ****I plan to start the small spark of Mergana early but want a lot of friendship before there is even the possibility of a romance. Same goes for Arwen. I changed things up to my advantage in this chapter. The day in the first episode and his day in this fic are slightly different, nothing too big, but definitely big enough that some change could come from it. - Dom ****I'm sure you've noticed some very...subtle differences between this fic and the show. For example, Merlin going to the feast before going to visit the dragon instead of vice versa. I did this simply to establish that Merlin was willing to save a life, even if that person happened to be a major prat, without knowing that it was his destiny to do so. Hope you enjoyed this -Dom**

**Special thanks to my beta Manny. He's aight sometimes. **


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: Anotha one**

**Disclaimer: Here's a fun fact, I don't own Merlin. **

The black market was always an interesting place to be. It was where thieves, murderers and business thrived. The most adequate environment for fiends to go about, making profits, growing in the dark damp underground like fungi.

A man with a caramel colored coat made his way through the merchant's gathering, hood up so as to conceal him, and sticking to the shadows and byways. He avoided the other consumers and sellers as he found himself stepping into a small tent hidden behind an alcove, very unassuming and one wouldn't be likely to find it unless you were looking for it specifically.

He moved aside a curtain and walked into the tent, warily looking at his surroundings the booth itself was not a place for the innocent, and certainly not a place for the ignorant. Here, magical trinkets were sold, powerful and uniquely dangerous. The merchant behind the booth was a veteran of the underground. His head shone with the lights of the torches around him, hair gone from the woes of time, rather than the stresses of his career.

The younger man nodded to him and with a meaningful glance and stated his business "I understand that you have a shield for me"

The merchant only smiled, eyes flickering with greed, he pulled out a heavy golden object from under the counter. He hefted it onto the surface of the booth and said "With your swordcraft and this shield, there is no doubt that you shall win every battle that you engage in."

The buyer wasted no time, not one for pleasantries "Show me how it works."

Nodding his head, the merchant chanted words forbidden to be chanted in Camelot for 22 years, and the green and gruesome snakes painted onto the golden shield came to life, removing themselves completely from the second dimension, and coming into the third as very real creatures, attached to the shield by their midsection, hissing and biting at everything in view.

Looking on with satisfaction, the buyer observed from a safe distance.

The merchant took this as a sign to go on as he began to explain different applications in battle for the snakes. "When they bite an opponent, he will be paralyzed."

The buyer watched the merchant carefully until the old man gave him the shield, saying "You have control of them now, they will do as you command."

He smiled in malice, and the merchant was never heard from again.

{(O)}

In another part of the Kingdom, on the outside of a grand castle of white walls and tall towers, right by a small clearing with a pond, a clanging could be heard. This sound was the product of the Prince of Camelot soundly giving his manservant, and fast growing friend, Merlin a good thrashing with a sword.

"Head, body, left, right, overhead, horizontal feint to overhead, stab, left, SHIELD, left, right, stab, head." The prince shouted out his attacks before he did them, but this did barely anything to help Merlin whose head was ringing.

He lasted for the first couple of minutes but got distracted by the disarming sight of a woman wearing a yellow dress with flowing black hair and emerald eyes. It all went downhill from there.

"Is it over yet?" Merlin groaned out as he fell to the ground, having lost the will to keep standing.

Arthur grinned "That was just the warm-up, tell me Merlin, how are your mace skills going along?"

Merlin offered another groan as a response.

"You're braver than you look Merlin, most servants fall by the first blow. I'd say that you lasted about ten minutes. I'm not doing this for fun, although it definitely _is_ fun. I'm doing this because you're already half decent with a sword, and I think you should be able to proficiently defend yourself. And besides, we need to work on your form. If you were in a battle I'm quite positive that you'd get killed by you landing on your own sword rather than the enemy landing one on you."

"I'm not _that_ clumsy." Merlin muttered as Arthur helped him up.

"And what about that time you dumped a bucket of cold water on me, M_er_lin? Are you saying that wasn't an accident? If so I'm afraid I'm going to have to put you on stable duty for a couple of days."

"It was only one time!" Merlin said defensively.

"One time too many. You're lucky that you're probably the most competent of my servants, else I'd have fired you already."

"I'll have to try harder then, your highness" Merlin said bowing mockingly.

Arthur simply pushed him and another short duel broke out.

Gaius could only chuckle when he saw Merlin walk in, thoroughly bruised and grimy.

"So, how was your day?"

Merlin rolled his eyes and dropped down on the bench right next to Gaius. "Do you here ringing?" he asked him.

Gaius looked at him and raised his eyebrow.

"It was okay" Merlin shrugged.

And it really was. At first he and Arthur did not get along very well at all. After all, Merlin was quite...what was the nice way to say it? Insubordinate? Annoying? Arthur liked to call him an idiot, so that could be a possibility. Either way, they had warmed up to each other a little bit more, though they still exchanged barbs.

Maybe it was all the things that they had gone through as a team. It had been a couple of months since Merlin arrived in Camelot and in that time they had saved the city from a poisonous creature in the water supply, and saved the city from a series of curses cast upon it by "The Guardian of the Unicorns" when Arthur decided to be an absolute idiot and kill one (Merlin never let him live that down.) But all in all, things got better, and his destiny no longer seemed as much of a burden as before.

Looking over to his father's book on the other end of the table, Merlin summoned it to him with a flash of his eye.

Gaius looked at him sharply and said "Child, shouldn't you be reading about tournament etiquette instead of _pleasure_ reading upon an _illegal subject, _using _illegal abilities_?"

Merlin sighed in despair. _I forgot about that,_ Merlin thought to himself.

"I suppose." He responded, getting up and walking to his room, where he plopped down on his bed and picked up a dusty tome on a topic Merlin couldn't care less about.

The next day, Merlin found himself in a blacksmith's workshop, Gwen and her father's home, where they discussed different parts of armor. Gwen took the time to teach Merlin everything that he needed to know, patiently correcting him when he was mistaken.

"How do you know so much about armor and I don't?" he asked her teasingly.

She smiled, hitting him on the chest, "Because I'm the blacksmith's daughter. I know everything there is to know about armor." After a moment she added "It's very sad, really."

"Well I think it's brilliant" A newcomer said, entering the house.

Gwen and Merlin turned and saw that it was Morgana walking through the door.

"I hope I didn't interrupt anything? Hello Merlin, Gwen" She said, approaching them.

"Milady" Merlin greeted her, nodding his head and turning around to pick up the pieces that he needed to collect for Arthur.

"Of course not, milady. How are you feeling? Sorry I couldn't go work today, my father needed me to take over the shop for a little while." Gwen said apologetically.

Morgana turned to Gwen and said "No, no don't worry about it. I'm perfectly capable of dressing myself. As a matter of fact, you should probably take the day off, I know yesterday was exhausting for you what with the preparations for the reception and whatnot."

Gwen nodded in appreciation "What brings you here Morgana? I thought you would be heading to the tournament by now."

"I was," Morgana replied, "But I wanted to at least say hello and your house was along the way so I figured that I should pop by."

Merlin took the moment to interrupt briefly "Speaking of the tournament. I should head out, I have to go help the prat-" Merlin caught himself, "I mean, _prince_, get ready. I'm not quite sure that he could even pull on his shirt without my help."

Morgana snorted but Gwen looked mortified.

"You're quite mouthy for a servant" Morgana said, "I must say it's been quite refreshing to have someone else in the castle besides me not taking Arthur _too_ seriously. You're good for him."

Merlin nodded, "Someone has to deflate his head every now and then, else he would have trouble walking through doorways."

"Sounds like someone needs to deflate _yours_ a little." Morgana said wryly.

"With how often he trips? Not necessary. It's a wonder he hasn't fallen off the stairs." Gwen spoke up, throwing Merlin a smirk as he pretended to look offended.

"I see my presence isn't appreciated here so I'll take my leave!" Merlin said haughtily, letting some wryness leak into his voice so that they knew that he was joking.

Saying goodbye to the two women, Merlin began his trek to the tournament grounds with his prince's heavy armor.

The tournament itself was an entertaining, if not a little barbaric, affair. At a fundamental level, it consisted of a bunch of knights whacking each other with all sorts of weapons and shields. For an event of this type, brutality was to be expected.

Merlin let out a chuckle and yelling out "You go!" as he watched as Arthur kicked his opponent square in the chest, disorienting him briefly.

He observed the next couple of rounds as the two dominating forces, Arthur and Valiant, both knocked down opponent after opponent. As the sun showed the signs of mid-day, the tournament paused there, and would resume the next day.

As Merlin helped Arthur shrug off his armor, Valiant walked by, dropping some very arrogant remarks and thinly veiled insults.

Arthur paid it no mind but Merlin didn't like him one bit. "That guy's a jerk."

"It doesn't matter, I'm not supposed to be particularly friendly with the competition anyways Merlin. My job is just to focus on beating him, and to do that I can't let him get to my head."

"He's quite good..." Merlin trailed off, actually worried about how Arthur would fare in the tournament.

"Yes, I suppose so." Arthur was nervous too, but he'd never admit that. Especially not to Merlin, and God forbid… Morgana.

And speaking of Morgana, Merlin spotted her, fabulous as ever, on the receiving end of flirtations from Valiant. He felt an odd feeling in his stomach at the concept. He did not like it at all. He was not particularly fond of Valiant...something seemed off about him, and he didn't like the way at Morgana, not one bit. He was going to point out the fact to Arthur but Gaius called him before he could open his mouth.

"Sorry, sire, Gaius needs my help"

"Go on then, I can handle the rest." Arthur consented.

Later that night, in the Grand Hall where another feast was taking place and all the contenders stopped and kissed Morgana's hand, and when it was Valiant's turn he did as well, though his kiss lingered a little bit longer than strictly appropriate. When the procession was finished Morgana turned to Gwen and said to her friend "I hope that Valiant wins."

Gwen gasped "That's not true."

Morgana nodded with a small grin as she looked at the handsome knight, "I think I'll even allow him the honor of escorting me to my table tonight."

Gwen raised an eyebrow at that but didn't question her lady. Being summoned with the goblets of wine on her platter, she made her way to the other side of the hall where she conferred with Merlin, one of her newest closest friends.

"Merlin, how do you feel about this Valiant fellow?"

Merlin hesitated for a moment, choosing his words carefully "I...can't say anything bad about him, but something doesn't feel right about him."

She nodded, "I agree. I'll keep an eye on him."

The next day, Merlin was in the armory, collecting Arthur's armor when he heard the sound, a mild hissing. He stopped what he was doing, the hairs on the back of his neck coming to a stand, and he began inspecting the room, trying to pinpoint the source of the noise.

He followed the hissing and gasped when he found Valiant's shield, staring at it with narrowed eyes. _Something is definitely wrong here, there's….power radiating from that shield, bad power._

He was made to touch the shield when he heard another noise, the sound of a blade being pulled out of its sheath. He turned around slowly, and his heart skipped a beat when he spotted an uncomfortably pointy sword aimed right at his heart, and saw that the man on its other end was Sir Valiant himself.

"May I help you, _boy?_"

"N-no, I'm fine, it's fine, I was just collecting my master's armor."

"Well then, get on with it!" Valiant growled.

Merlin quickly if not more than a little clumsily, collected all of Arthur's armor, and he ran for his life.

A little bit later that morning, in the residential areas of the castle, Morgana woke from her sleep with a flutter of her eyes and a gasp for breath. Her eyes still burned golden, but the foreign tint that it consisted of quickly began to diminish, allowing her eyes to fade back into her striking natural color.

She had yet another nightmare, and this one was particularly vivid. She seemed to be having even more of these, increasingly difficult to control no matter how many sleeping draughts she took, ever since the night that the witch had tried to assassinate Arthur. But it was of no importance, she had other more pressing matters to attend to than her own fears.

"Merlin" she breathed out. The new serving boy, quickly becoming her friend, was the central subject of this nightmare. She watched in horror as he was impaled in the back with a sword by a man with a golden shield, three nasty snakes painted on. Worse still, she saw Arthur get cut down by that very man as well.

She shook it off, _they were only nightmares, right?_

_{(O)}_

The tournament started fresh that day as Arthur and Valiant cut down opponent after opponent, some easier than others to take down. When Valiant was pitted against a tall and broad dark-skinned knight who was very handy with an ax however, something happened. Morgana and Merlin both felt it. Valiant somehow managed to get the other knight pinned down to the ground, using his shield to apply more force on his opponent. A miniscule flux in the immediate area occurred, and only Merlin felt it.

Valiant stood, but the other knight did not.

That's when it occurred to Morgana that Valiant was the knight from her nightmare. He was the one with the snake shield. _The one who will kill Merlin and Arthur_ she thought with horror.

Gaius rushed to the fallen knight as Valiant raised his right arm in victory and the crowd cheered. Only Merlin and Morgana didn't applaud the knight, both looking at the victorious Sir Valiant with growing suspicion.

That night, Morgana went to Gaius' chambers for two reasons. One was standard, but it was really only a cover for her real intentions.

She lightly knocked on the door and walked in when she heard Gaius call out "Come in!"

Morgana closed the door behind her and turned around to find a hectic scene. Merlin was sitting on a table, cross-legged and reading an old red tome...about the Sex Cycle of the Squirrel, biting on his neckerchief in anxiousness. Gaius was by the patient's bed, looking down at the fallen knight from earlier that day with narrowed eyes, concentrating on him.

She cleared her throat and they both looked up. Gaius smiled "Hello milady, what brings you here? Excuse the mess Merlin has been getting lazy!"

"Oi!" Merlin said as he stood, giving a quick bow of respect to Morgana. He put down his father's journal and made his way by Gaius' side, fetching him a towel that he had asked for.

"I came here for my remedy, I'm afraid they've only gotten worse."

Gaius nodded grimly, "Of course child, I will make you a batch immediately. A stronger dosage perhaps?"

"Yes, please." Morgana said gratefully, but she hesitated for a moment.

"I-I also came because I need to speak with Merlin." She stated uncertainly. Gaius arched an eyebrow and looked in Merlin's direction. Merlin looked up with a questioning glance.

"Alone" she added. Now even Merlin raised his eyebrows, a habit he picked up from Gaius, but nodded, drawing himself to his full height and walking past her to the door, where he opened it and held it for her. She followed him out and walked with him. He led them to a small alcove near Gaius' chambers, only a couple of paces away. The alcove was surprisingly spacious and offered them a decent amount of privacy.

After a brief period of silence, where Merlin allowed Morgana to collect her thoughts, she began speaking.

"I-I..." She started, but stopped abruptly. "No! Nevermind, this is silly. I'm sorry Merlin, I shouldn't have been a bother I-"

"It's okay, you can tell me." Merlin said softly, trying to assure her that she wasn't wasting his time at all.

"You're going to think that I'm insane, Merlin."

"I already do, milady. You can tell me."

"I had a strange dream, and _sometimes_, when I have these dreams… they tend to come true." She said tenuously, taking a shaky breath. It wasn't particularly easy for her to talk about this, especially what she was going to say next.

"Tell me about the dream, milady." Merlin prodded, keeping his voice low.

She hesitated again but continued "It was Valiant! In the dream, he-he killed you Merlin! And t-then in the tournament his shield came to life and the snakes killed Arthur!" Her eyes were wide and glazed with tears that haven't been born, she looked into his own eyes searchingly and frantically.

"Hey, hey it's okay Morgana, I'm sure it was just a bad dream. Look I'm here and I'm well, and Arthur is in his room, still being a clotpole. The tournament ends tomorrow, I'm sure it'll be fine." Merlin said consolingly. Morgana nodded, hot tears slowly made their way down her face, but she drew herself to her full height, the top of her head barely reaching Merlin's chin. Deep down inside, she knew it wasn't _just_ a dream, and Merlin knew it too.

"Thank you Merlin" She said, her voice steadier than it had been before. Merlin nodded, offering her an arm and saying "come on, let's go get you that sleeping draught."

She took his arm and he walked her back to Gaius' chambers where he had made a couple of draughts and had resumed his position of examining his newest mystery.

Morgana took the remedies and thanked them both sincerely. She made her way back to her chambers to drop off her remedies, and started walking back to the Grand Hall for supper with the Court and the Contenders.

Merlin, in the meantime quickly left Gaius saying "Whoops, I forgot! Arthur wants me too… scrub the floors of his room. Got to go do that now! I'll comeback soon!"

Gaius only shook his head and muttered.

Merlin found his way to Valiant's room relatively easily. He _had, _after all, become quite familiar with the castle what with all the sneaking around that he did and the such. Seeing that the door was locked, he cast a very quick unlocking charm on the door. _**"Aliese"**_he whispered, allowing the door to swing open. He closed it quietly behind him, sure that Valiant was at supper, kissing up to the king. He moved around the room, inspecting all sorts of item until he struck gold.

Spotting Valiant's enchanted shield, he tried to feel it with his own magic and recoiled at the lethal powers radiating from the shield. He took in a breath and went to touch the shield before he noted a figure standing behind him with its arms raised on a mirror next to him. Merlin turned quickly and was about to cast a spell to defend himself when there was a loud _thud_ and Valiant, as Merlin realized was the attacker, fell to the ground, sword clattering a couple of feet away from him.

The Lady Morgana was revealed standing behind him, a wooden training sword she had found in the room still in hand. They both sighed in relief.

"So you _did_ believe my dream, didn't you?" Morgana told him accusingly. Though, internally, she was happy that _someone_ was willing to listen to her ramblings.

Merlin nodded carefully "I did."

He continued, "And I'm thankful that you saved me. But how did you know that I would be here, let alone that Valiant would be too?"

"I didn't" she said, "I followed him here after supper, and well, I saw that he was going to kill you and..."

"Well thank you." Merlin told her. He got up and grabbed the shield, inspecting it again. "He's going to try to kill Arthur in the tournament tomorrow." He whispered, realization that her dream _was _indeed coming true hit him. "I have to go report this to Uther!" He declared, getting up to go.

Before he could take a step however, Morgana grabbed his arm and stopped him from going. "No," she said, "he wouldn't believe you over a noble knight. I have to tell him."

Merlin was ready to argue that it was too risky, that it wouldn't be a smart thing to do, that he could convince Uther, but he knew that she was right.

"Okay, I'll tell Gaius." He said.

They went their separate ways and Merlin updated Gaius on the situation and both made their way to the throne room in time to hear Morgana speak to Uther in front of the court.

"My lord," Morgana said, addressing Uther, "I have reason to believe that Sir Valiant has been using sorcery throughout the course of the tournament." Her voice was confident and didn't waver a bit, but Merlin knew that she was using her faux confidence to hide how nervous she truly was. He looked over at Valiant, now conscious and pretending to be outraged.

"These are very heavy claims, Morgana." Uther stated grimly.

"I am certain that I am correct."

Uther humored her, "Very well. You claim he has been conducting sorcery. In what ways?"

"His shield," Morgana responded, "I have enough evidence that the conclusion that it is enchanted is irrefutable."

Uther narrowed his eyes and furrowed his eyebrows, and turned to Valiant. "And what do you think of these claims?" Uther asked, a small bit of suspicion in his voice.

"They're preposterous of course!" He said indignantly. Arthur too, looked upset at Morgana, afraid that people might think he put her up to this. The court began to break into murmurs.

Morgana looked at Merlin and Gaius with a little bit of panic. Gaius stepped up and spoke. "Sire, the wound that the deceased knight from earlier today received while in battle with Sir Valiant was very similar to a snake bite."

"Get to the point, old friend." Uther told Gaius.

"However, what is odd is not the snake bite itself, but rather the location of it. It is right above the victim's collarbone. There were no snakes in the arena, as the servants in charge of cleaning it are well aware."

Morgana hopped into the discussion "And so the only snakes on the field were the ones on his shield".

Merlin also threw in his two cents "May I add sire, that the fallen knight only became still on the ground _after_ Valiant struck him with his shield. After further study of the victim's body, it is evident that he was paralyzed by snake poison."

"Of course you would talk, _boy!_" Valiant barked, turning to Uther triumphantly. "I saw him snooping around my chambers and touching my shield this evening!"

Uther and Arthur both looked outraged at this, "Is this true boy?" He asked, "If it is, I'm afraid you will have to suffer very grave consequences." Merlin panicked, and couldn't say anything in response.

"Of course it's not true, sire." Morgana didn't miss a beat, "He was with me, I asked him to run some errands for me, while Gwen was away..."

The maid, who had watched the events transpire with some confusion until now came to Morgana's aid now, saying "I had to fetch my father some herbs that he urgently needed. He uses them when making the armor that protects your knights because they help make the plating stronger and lighter." It was a total lie, of course, but she wasn't about to let Morgana get in trouble.

Uther raised an eyebrow, looking at Valiant menacingly. Valiant was getting nervous now but he glared at Merlin and Morgana, saying "You could check the shield for magic if you like, sire. You'll find that it is completely harmless.

Uther nodded, taking the shield from him and inspecting it. Behind his back Valiant spoke a gullibility charm, and only Morgana noticed his strange behavior.

Suddenly, Uther returned the shield to the knight saying "It is quite clear that this shield is not magical. At most, it was crafted by a very skilled blacksmith, I'll say that much."

He turned to his ward, who was looking at Valiant incredulously but the knight only had a smirk on his face.

"Morgana, I will not punish you this time as perhaps your evidence was very solid. However, I do believe that you should stay in your chambers for the rest of the night and let these fanciful delusions leave you. Sleep it off."

She shook with rage but gave Uther a polite smile and a nod as she stormed back to her chambers and fell onto her bed, tears springing up to her eyes. She had failed Arthur and now he was going to die for it.

Merlin got an earful from Arthur that night, and a good plop on the head. He was sacked and upset as he made his way back to Gaius' chambers. He took it and concentrated on it thinking: _Show me a spell that will help me reveal the truth, please._

The book magically opened to a new page with an incantation on it. Merlin read the brief description of the spell and the incantation and looked out of his window, spying a stone dog in the courtyard. He grinned and ran out of Gaius' room.

Somehow, he had managed to drag the heavy statue up to his room, where he attempted the spell again and again until dawn had come and he had no success. It was hopeless, he was going to fail his Destiny, and worse still, Morgana. He cursed at Valiant for coming to Camelot before getting ready and heading out to the tournament. He was going to be there, just in case. Even if Arthur _did _sack him.

Morgana was nowhere to be found in the tournament. She refused to leave her chambers. Arthur and Uther put down her strange behavior as her expressing guilt for her accusations the other night and thought nothing of it. As she watched the fight go on through her window, she spotted Merlin running through the courtyard as fast as he could, never giving up, and she knew that she shouldn't either. She got up from her position in the window and ran out of the castle, following in Merlin's footsteps. It was heartwarming to know that Merlin had put such faith, such stock in her words despite only knowing her for a couple of months.

Arthur fought valiantly _**(NO PUN INTENDED I SWEAR)**_, parrying every hit that Valiant sent his way and even managing to throw in a couple of his own. While this was happening, Merlin put forth the maximum amount of concentration that he could for the spell to work. Nothing. It got to the point where Valiant began to push on Arthur with his shield and Merlin was panicking. Morgana just got to where Merlin was and gasped when Valiant was getting ready to strike a mortal blow. Everyone watched with anticipation as the seconds slowed down. Uther was sitting up in his chair and Gaius was getting ready to move in as soon as possible. In that moment Morgana reached Merlin and grabbed his arm tightly, almost as if he were a shield from what was about to happen. She felt despair, Arthur was going to die, and it was her fault.

Merlin on the other hand felt a different emotion, he felt his stomach lighten at her touch, but more importantly, he felt his magic crackling under his skin like lightning as his eyes began to glow gold. No words were spoken, but somehow the snakes had jumped out of Valiant's shield. Shocking the whole crowd and Valiant himself. Uther looked outraged at Valiant, but relieved that Arthur would live.

No one dared move, not even the snakes, except for Arthur. He made the most of the situation and beheaded all three snakes in one solid swing of his sword, and entrenched it deep in Valiant's abdomen before he could even move.

Morgana and Merlin sighed in relief. He turned to Morgana only to be engulfed in a hug. He was suddenly very thankful that he picked a spot where he wouldn't be seen. He patted her on the back awkwardly, but didn't worry too much about it. He was just relieved that he hadn't failed at saving his friend's life. That gave him pause. Did he consider Arthur a friend? And Morgana? Definitely Gwen. Merlin smiled, being in Camelot wasn't going to be that bad.

Later that night, happily re-employed and very pleased with himself, Merlin went to sleep.

Or tried to, at least.

"_Merlin" _a voice said in his head.

"Oh you've got to be kidding me." Merlin complained out loud.

Pulling on his clothes again, he quietly made his way out of his room to go meet Kilgharrah once again.

**A/N: Here's another one! Also, I know it may seem like I'm going episode by episode, but I assure you that I am not. I will be revisiting a couple of key episodes in season 1 but after that I'm taking a turn from canon. Anyways, I'm also putting in some time jumps, this is so we could get done what we need to get done and proceed with the actual story. Sidenote: The events that I time jump are out of order to, I put events that happen way after this episode as happening beforehand. Consider it one of the differences. It's so I can build a bond between characters more easily, so...yeah. You'll see some more of that next chapter. Speaking of which, I may or may not be updating until after June 9****th.**** So be warned. **

**Thanks to my editor. I bullied him all weekend until he finished looking this over so that I can get this out to you guys (Don't worry, he's my friend out here in the boring real world so I'm allowed to torment him. I hope you enjoyed, and please please please please please review. They mean a lot to me. Tell me ANYTHING that I can improve on and what YOU want to see, because I write these for my own pleasure but YOU the READERS are what make it worth it for me, so I want to make it worth it for you too!**

**-Dom**


	5. Chapter 5

** Disclaimer: I do not own these characters**

**Oh, and shout out to my reviewers, you guys are seriously amazing and keep me going! **

**PS: Sorry if there are any formatting errors, my computer didn't really want to parse the .docx for some reason and so I had to copy and paste this. Enjoy.**

She held the scrying bowl in her hands tightly, contemplating her visions. It had been many months now since her plan to ruin Camelot from the inside had failed, the creature that she placed in the waterways was slain. But not by Arthur, rather by none other than some incompetent servant boy. Nimueh growled to the nothingness around her.

The High Priestess was all alone and it was Uther's fault, but she bid her time. She had to let him get attached to his son before she whisked him away after all. Then he would know pain. To have everything taken away. And she was close, oh so close when this servant boy appeared. But it was of no consequence, he would be dealt with. Friendship _is _nothing but a weakness after all.

{(O)}

The tension in the room was palpable, thick like butter and Merlin could have used a twig from any of the surrounding forests to cut through it.

On one side of the room, Uther and his knights stood stoically, tall and proud, Arthur by his right side. The guard stationed on the other side of the door to the throne room knocked twice before he and his partner opened it, signaling for Uther to begin moving forward with his knights. Just as they began moving forward, steps resounding throughout the throne room, Bayard and _his _knights walked through the door, blue capes flowing behind them in contrast to Camelot's shades of red.

They met in the middle of the room, a pause was born, broken by the bonding of the two king's arms, firm and strong. But the situation was not nearly as strong as the grip of their hands, it was fragile. One wrong move and everything would go to Hell. And so naturally, it was at this moment that Merlin began to feel the nearly insurmountable urge to sneeze. _Oh please no. No, no, no _he thought to himself, struggling with the instinct.

He looked around the room in a panic, a futile attempt to find something to save him from his oncoming humiliation (and probably beheading if Uther had any input in the matter, which he always did). In his wild search someone caught his attention. She wore a turban, wrapped around her head more tightly than the crimson clothing on her frame. It was of a blue color, the same shade as her brilliant eyes. A tempting smirk played at her lips, painted red. Behind her smile, behind her blue eyes, there was a deep sadness, sidelined by hatred, anger, betrayal. He looked away quickly though, there were other more _urgent _matters that he had to deal with than looking at a beautiful woman. Like his serious need to sneeze.

It was then that Uther spoke, words carefully chosen and thought out weeks in advance. "Lord Bayard of Mercia, Camelot welcomes you in hopes of a time of peace and alliance, and an end to all hostility under our treaty."

Bayard nodded, and the two kings released their grip, and Arthur was the first to begin clapping. Soon enough, Merlin released a stifled "Achoo!", but luckily it was drowned out by the sound of applause. Sighing in relief, he looked around the room again, but he didn't see her again.

Nimueh watched him carefully, hidden behind a column, hoisting a basket on her hip and pretending to be busy. She _felt _him more than she saw him, really. The sheer power radiating from him was undeniable, and it seemed to belong singularly to him. She didn't really know who he was, but she would find out. Though it might be too late by then, if all things went according to her plan. Whoever he was, she knew that he had to be the single most valuable person in the castle, his power was greater than hers, even. And she was powerful. On some level she felt threatened, but she shook it away. Powerful he may be, but he _was _still just an idiot serving boy, and he was going to be eliminated.

{(O)}

An hour after the meeting, the "single most valuable person in the castle" could be found lugging around a heavy bag with sore arms, tripping more often than not. He couldn't really use magic to his advantage given that the hallways were particularly full what with the extra bunch of knights and nobles now also cooped up in the castle along with Camelot's own resident clotpoles. Not to mention all of the servants running about, trying to help prepare for the feast as well as doing their master's bidding. One such _incredibly fortunate _person happened to be Merlin.

Walking through the corridor, Merlin encountered his guardian, but his smile quickly turned into a glare. _How is it possible for someone to smirk with their __eyebrows__? _Merlin thought as he approached him. "Yeah, yeah, laugh it up Gaius."

"Me? I have nothing to laugh about, it does not do to laugh in the face of a pitiful sight." Gaius said magnanimously.

"Why do I always end up with the donkey work? He does this on purpose, I swear. Do I _look _like I'm very strong?"

"It's your _job, _Merlin." He began, "And besides, maybe he's doing it to help you?"

"Arthur? Help me? Why would he do that?"

"Because I told him to give you work that requires muscle. You need some, Merlin. Your mother instructed me to do so."

"My _mother_?! No, she would never subject me to such torture." Merlin said, shaking his head.

"It's character building! As the old proverb says, hard work breeds-" The physician trailed off, struggling to remember the saying as Merlin chuckled and raised his own eyebrow at his mentor.

"A harder soul." The old man finished.

"There is _no way _that is a proverb. You just made that up right now." Merlin said.

"I did _not _make that up, I would never make anything up." Gaius said with righteous indignation.

Merlin was going to answer, but all semblance of thought left him quickly. A girl walking by tripped and he instinctively reached down to help her up and collect her fallen items. He vaguely recognized her as the woman from Bayard's court, but he was taken by her blue eyes, more brilliant than his own, and he introduced himself as he stood, eyes flicking over to his guardian in a way that conveyed his desire for him to leave. The former sorcerer shook his head and left with a smirk on his face.

The warlock's attention was drawn back to the stunning servant and caught her on time to learn that her name was Kara. He nodded and she said "Thank you for your help, Merlin", looking between the pillow in his hand and his face expectantly. Merlin followed her gaze and quickly handed her back the item, sheepishly rubbing the back of his head. "Right, sorry about that."

"Don't worry about it. It was a pleasure meeting you Merlin. See you around, yeah?" She offered him her white teeth with a bright smile as she turned and walked away.

Merlin stared after her, but turned around to pick up his bag. Instead of his bag though, he found himself in the presence of the Lady of Camelot.

"Morgana!" He exclaimed.

She stood with her hands behind her back and a glint in her green eyes.

"Hello Merlin, how are you feeling?" She asked with a lilt.

"I'm… fine. Just dandy. Though Arthur has me run ragged, he never lets me rest, always giving me some obscure job."

"Are you sure you aren't feeling...a little bit, in _love_, perhaps?" She asked, a smirk quickly growing on her lips.

"With _Arthur?_" Merlin asked with disgust.

"No, Merlin, with that servant from Bayard's court, I saw how you were looking at her." The Lady said with exasperation.

"Me? _Her? _No, no." He shook his head. "No way. It can't happen."

"You _are!_" She said triumphantly. "Merlin is in _love_!"

"How did you see that anyways? I didn't see you around"

"I was walking by and I saw what happened."

"You eavesdropped on me?!" Merlin asked in bewilderment.

"There wasn't much to eavesdrop _on _considering that all you did was _stare _at her like a lovesick fool" she grinned, "and besides, you're my friend Merlin. I'd hate to see you end up with some common whore. Now answer the question!"

He glared at her halfheartedly, "I've only known her for five minutes, Morgana, and quiet down before I get in trouble."

"Five minutes is all it takes to fall in love, Merlin. And why would you get in trouble? You're with me!"

"Precisely, I always run into trouble when I'm with the likes of _you_." He said jokingly.

She feigned offense, "Very well. I see how it is. The great and _mighty_ _Merlin _is too good for my company. Perhaps you'd be more open to Gwen's?"

Merlin grinned "You think you're funny don't you? I'm certain Gwen doesn't like me anymore, it's been less awkward since Valiant was around."

"At least I'm funnier than Arthur." She said defensively. "Who, I think, is the one that my dearest maidservant currently has a bit of a crush on."

"_Arthur? _No way." Merlin said.

"My thoughts exactly. I liked it better when she had a crush on you rather than him. You're infinitely more pleasant."

"Speaking of Arthur, I have to get back to him." Merlin said, picking up his heavy bag.

She offered a sympathetic smile, "I could help you with the bag, if you like?"

"No, no it's fine. Besides it isn't seemly for a lady of the court to help a servant carry heavy items."

"Don't be silly, Merlin. I couldn't care less about _seemly-ness_."

"Still, I think I could manage. And besides, it's character building!" He said cheerily.

He turned around and began walking away, but stopped and faced the King's Ward once more, saying "And Morgana? Stay out of my love life will you?"

She smiled viciously, "Not a chance in the world."

{(O)}

Nimueh smiled to herself. The plan had worked so far. The boy had quite quickly become a string in her hand, subject to her will. It wasn't very hard either, all she had to do was throw him a few smiles, bat her eyelashes and drop something. She nearly pitied him, how could such a powerful sorcerer be so awkward? She had almost rolled his eyes, but withheld. She had a task to focus on. Hiding behind an alcove, she waited for the Lady Morgana to walk past her position. Once Nimueh was sure she had gone, she kept on walking towards her destination.

She did feel bad though. The boy was innocent. He didn't at any point look anywhere below her eyes, and he was very polite. And he clearly had his heart in the right place but he was quickly becoming a nuisance in her plans, and she had to deal with him quickly. It was a shame though, but still necessary.

Reaching the door to the servants room, she looked around before ducking in, and walking up to a dusty table. She crinkled her nose _Do they ever clean this place? _Looking around, she found the item she was looking for. Nimueh hastily switched Arthur's cup for a replica that she forged herself. Satisfied with it's authenticity, she opened the door ever so slightly, looking around. Finding no one in sight, she left the room.

{(O)}

"You'll be attending the feast tonight Merlin." Arthur started, playing with his lunch idly as his servant tidied the room.

The warlock was momentarily pleased to be able to attend the feast, but he was quickly shot down as Arthur continued

"You shall be there to make sure that my cup is never empty. If _I _have to put up with boring pleasantries and formalities, then there's no reason that you shouldn't have to either."

The servant released a defeated groan, he knew that it was too good to be true.

"Furthermore," Arthur said grandly, "I have a present for you."

Although it had seemed that recently the prince had lightened up on the chores and toned down his prat-y habits, the changes weren't major, and Merlin suspected that it would be a very slow process to get the "Prince of Clotpoles" to be the "Once and Future King" that the tales spoke of.

Nevertheless, Merlin had faith that eventually, with a lot of time and hard work on his part, Arthur would be a strong and wise king. Sometimes however, his faith was tested, and the instant that Arthur pulled out the "Official Ceremonial Robes of the Servants of Camelot" from a dusty cupboard with a barely restrained smirk, Merlin knew that it would be one of those days.

"No. Absolutely _not_." Merlin said. "There is no way that I am wearing those."

{(O)}

Merlin stood by a wall, watching indifferently as Bayard signed the treaty, his only respite from the boredom didn't happen to be particularly good options either. Gwen was barely holding on to her wits as she arranged his silly headpiece. She was only able to say a couple of words without having a violent giggle attack.

"Nice hat." She mentioned to him.

Merlin only rolled his eyes. "Thanks."

He wasn't really able to get mad at Gwen, it was hard to, but he was not very happy with Arthur either, who he glared at when he periodically gave him a look and laughed into his goblet of wine. When Morgana got curious as to what Arthur was looking a she traced his gaze and her eyes widened.

She shot Arthur an incredulous look before she too was forced to take a suspicious swig from her own goblet in order to avoid the laughter quickly trying to force itself out of her lips. _Poor Merlin _she thought sympathetically.

Bayard clasped hands with Uther after the treaty was signed, and everyone in the Hall began to clap, Merlin made to do the same but was pulled away urgently by none other than Kara, who's gaze Merlin had been attempting to avoid throughout the evening.

He quickly made to remove his hat, and dusting off his clothes. He opened his mouth to excuse his clothing choice but was stopped by Kara, who began speaking quickly with wild, searching eyes.

"Merlin, you have to listen to me! I saw one of my lord poison your prince's chalice in the storage room. I didn't know who to trust so I came to warn you! Please, we have to do something!" She begged desperately.

Her eyes were watery and she seemed in a right state, so Merlin was inclined to believe her. Without a second thought, Merlin ran right into the middle of the Hall and took the chalice from Arthur's hands, who released it in surprise.

"Stop!" Merlin shouted, "Nobody drink from their goblets! This chalice was poisoned by Lord Bayard!"

A few lords who had already taken couple of drinks to ease their boredom throughout the formalities looked at their goblets critically and with a sense of rising horror.

Arthur stepped in to intercede, speaking as he tried to take back his drink. "Merlin, you _idiot_, have you been at the sloe gin, _again_?"

Arthur's father, however, was in no mood for games and grabbed Merlin by the collar of his ridiculous robes and spoke harshly and menacingly "Unless you would like to be strung up, then you will tell me what makes you think that this chalice was poisoned, and by a lord of all people."

"He was seen lacing it." Merlin said confidently.

"By who?"

The warlock's eyes flickered to Kara, but he looked back at Uther quickly. "I can't say."

Morgana saw Merlin's eyes flicker to Kara and was impressed by his loyalty, but she suddenly had a very bad feeling about the intentions of the maidservant that Merlin seemed to be so taken with. She was distracted from her suspicions as she watched in horror when Uther next spoke.

"Give me the chalice." Uther demanded of his son. Arthur complied with hesitation, looking at Merlin searchingly. _I hope you're right about this Merlin _he thought.

Uther walked up to the Mercian lord, handing him the chalice "If you indeed did not poison the chalice, then you have nothing to fear, do you?"

Bayard scoffed and moved to take it and drink from it, but Uther pulled it away. "Wait, if it really is poisoned, then I wish to have the pleasure of dealing with you myself." He turned around.

"Drink it." The king said, giving the chalice to Merlin.

"Your majesty, please, he's just a boy, he doesn't know what he's saying!" Gaius pleaded.

"Then you should have taught him better, old friend." Uther said coldly.

Arthur stepped in again, panic rising in him quickly as he tried to take the goblet from Merlin. He looked at his father and tried to reason with him "Father, please-" but seeing his father's face he knew that there was no bargaining. He turned to Merlin "Merlin, apologize. This is a mistake, **I'll** drink it."

Gaius, Gwen and Morgana watched with wide eyes as Merlin shook his head. "No, no, I will drink it."

He looked at the Mercian lord in the eye, raising the goblet to him, before he turned and looked at Gaius, Uther, Arthur, Gwen, Morgana and finally Kara in the eye.

"Merlin-" Morgana's protest died on her lips as she looked on with horror as the sweet and loyal manservant brought the prince's ornate chalice to his lips and let the liquid flow into his mouth. He swallowed, and waited, heart beating quickly. For a pregnant moment nothing happened and Uther was ready to have his guards arrest the servant, but suddenly his heart was beating much faster than before, and his throat was burning and he managed to meet Morgana's green eyes before he knew no more.

{(O)}

Chaos broke loose the very moment that Merlin's limp body hit the floor, Uther's knights already had Bayard and his knights surrounded and at their mercy. Arthur watched his friend's lifeless body on the ground and anger churned inside of him. He made to pull his sword out of its sheath but he was stopped by Morgana, who grabbed his wrist before he could complete the motion.

"Not now, we need you to help Gaius take Merlin to his chambers." She spoke quickly, but softly. She had tears in her eyes as she looked back to where Gaius and Gwen were, tending desperately to her dying friend.

Arthur nodded and walked over to them, picking up Merlin and they made their way to Gaius' chambers quickly. Gaius opened the door and cleared a space on which to place Merlin with practiced ease. Arthur laid him down there, and stood straight again, allowing Gaius to get to work.

"Have you been able to identify the poison, Gaius?" Arthur asked the physician, who shook his head. I'm searching through my books but I can't find anything in particular that matches his symptoms."

Arthur nodded and they waited. Arthur paced around the room while Morgana tapped her delicate fingers on the table, her eyes flickering over to Merlin every now and then while Gwen helped to reorganize Gaius' supplies.

Gaius worked urgently, reading through all of his normal medicinal books and was beginning to become very frustrated when an idea struck him. What if the poison was not a normal one? What if it were magical? He would need to consult his spell book, but he couldn't while they were all in there with him.

"Arthur and Gwen, I'm going to need you to go fetch me a bucket of water quickly. Morgana, go to the kitchen and get me some towels, please."

With something to do, they all moved quickly, glad to be of use.

Arthur and Gwen all but ran down to the lower town where they took their buckets and filled them up. When the second one filled up, Gwen moved to pick it up, but was stopped by Arthur.

"I'll take them." He said.

"It's fine." She said. "I'll take it, you're a prince, you shouldn't be doing a servant's work."

"You're not just a servant Guinevere, you're a friend." He said, as he walked forward. "And besides, I'm stronger. We'll get there faster this way."

Gwen blushed, flattered that the prince considered her a friend, and nodded, seeing the logic in his statement.

"Very well sire, but at least let me help you with one of them." She said, not willing to just stand by and let him do all the work.

Arthur nodded and together they made their way back up to Gaius' chambers as fast as they could.

Morgana, on the other hand, ran to the kitchens, eager to accomplish her mission. She kept an eye out for Kara, but couldn't find the sketchy servant anywhere. Morgana did not like her one bit. She had teased Merlin about his infatuation with the Mercian maidservant, as she was very beautiful, but Morgana knew that Kara's clumsiness was fake, just an excuse to speak to the most well liked servant in Camelot.

She shook these thoughts out of her head though, as she approached a servant she knew to be named Jenny.

"I'm going to need some towels, please. Quickly, if possible." She spoke.

Gaius took advantage of his solitude and summoned his spellbook to him. He hadn't used magic in many years, but his desperation and the fragility of the current situation warranted it. He skimmed through it with familiarity and found what he was looking for.

Just then, Arthur, Gwen and Morgana all burst through the door. Gaius took control quickly.

"Put the buckets by the table, and hold on to the towels. Gwen, wet the towels in the bucket and start keeping him cool, please."

Gwen moved forward to do as instructed and Morgana began to do the same, but looked up when the physician spoke.

"I have identified the source of the poison as being from a Mortaeus Flower. The cure could be extracted from the leaves of the very flower itself. However, the Mortaeus Flower could only be found deep in the forests of Balor. Few who have made the journey have survived. And I'm afraid that Merlin only has but a few days to live."

Gaius showed them the book, and Arthur's eyes flickered to the large and dangerous creatures that were drawn on the map of the forests. He looked back at his friend's body on the cot, however, and his mind was made up.

"Sounds like fun." He said, standing up.

Gaius stopped him in his tracks however. "First, I'd need to confirm that it was indeed a Mortaeus Flower by which Merlin was poisoned. I believe that you left the chalice in the Grand Hall. And Arthur, don't you have to help your father with Bayard's men? Be reasonable."

Arthur sighed. "You're right. I'll be back as soon as I can, and I'll bring the chalice."

"I'll go with you." Morgana said quickly.

Arthur shook his head. "No Morgana, it might get violent. It's too dangerous and father wouldn't allow it."

"Our friend is poisoned because of Bayard!" She exclaimed.

"And he needs you to be here. I'm not like you, so I'm going to do what I do best and deal with these knights if it gets physical. You stay here, and do what you do best. Help him or at least help Gwen and Gaius do so." And with that, the prince walked out of the room.

Morgana turned, and began to help in what ways she could, working with Gwen and following Gaius' instructions.

"Do you think he'll be okay?" Morgana asked her childhood friend.

Gwen, shook her head, hesitating. "I hope so, my lady."

The maidservant looked over Merlin sadly, tears in her eyes that she refused to let fall. Crying wouldn't help at the moment. And she had to stay strong and positive. He was still breathing, and that is what she chose to focus on.

{(O)}

Arthur rushed to the Hall, where all of Bayard's knights had been searched for any more weapons, and tied up. Camelot's knights, led by Sir Leon, took them to the dungeons, where they would be dealt with later. Uther massaged his head and made his way back to the throne room to consult his advisers, with the exception of Gaius who was caring for his ward.

The prince took his chalice from a table, uneasy at the thought that this chalice might have been the cause of his friend's death. He saw his father walk out of the Hall and towards the throne room and he followed him in.

He hadn't been able to take the chalice to Gaius for him to confirm it yet, but the flower he found inside of it did look very similar to the drawing of the Mortaeus Flower on Gaius' book.

Arthur argued with his father over the situation for many minutes, but Uther did not budge in the slightest.

"For the last time Arthur, no! You are my only son and heir, I can't risk losing you for the sake of some serving boy!" Uther intoned angrily.

Irked, Arthur's voice rose. "Why because his life is worthless?"

"No, Arthur," Uther said firmly, "because it is worth _less _than _yours_."

"Please father, I can save him. Let me take some men. We'll be back in no time!"

"It's a fools errand."

"It's not! Gaius said-"

"Gaius said? That's exactly what makes it so."

"Father, he saved my life twice! It's unhonorable if I simply stand by and watch him die when I have the opportunity to save him!" Arthur implored.

"Then don't _look_." Uther said coldly.

"I can't accept that." Arthur said, shaking his head.

"You're not going." The king of Camelot said with finality, turning away from his son and continuing to his destination.

The prince sighed, turning around and making his way back to Gaius' Chambers.

Walking in, he put the chalice in front of Gaius, who looked up at it and picked up the flower, inspecting it.

"This is indeed a Mortaeus Flower." He said.

Arthur nodded and walked out the room. Morgana looked at Gwen and spoke "I'm going to go speak to him. I'll be back soon."

Putting down the towel she was using to dab at Merlin's warm skin, she stood up and followed him.

By the time she stepped out into the corridor, Arthur was already gone, but she knew where he would be.

Opening the door to his chambers, she found him pacing around.

Arthur was silently cursing himself for not trying to do more to convince his father. Despite what his actions showed, Arthur had grown to think of Merlin as a friend over the past couple of months. The other man's complete and utter disregard for station and brutal honesty had always been somewhat refreshing to him.

Being a prince was a lonely thing to be. Not a lot of people had ever honestly and truly wished to be friends with him for the sake of being friends with him. Most of the time they simply wished to get closer to the king to-be so that they would be in his good graces once he was the ruler of Camelot. That meant that Morgana and a couple of his knights had ever been real friends in his eyes, and he thought of Morgana as his sister in many ways.

Besides them however, the servant from Ealdor was the closest thing to a true friend that Arthur ever had, and he would really hate to see him dead.

He was pulled away from his pacing when Morgana opened the door to his room. Stepping in loudly as always.

"He said no?" She asked rhetorically.

"How'd you know I went to speak to him?"

"Please, the only one who ever makes you this upset besides me, is Uther."

Nodding, Arthur moved closer to his fireplace, watching the wild flames, seeking a miracle. Morgana began speaking however, filled with passion as fiery as the flames he contemplated upon.

"Arthur, forget about the stations and forget about Uther for just a moment and tell me that it isn't the right thing to do! He's my friend, he's _your _friend whether either of you admit it or not. Imagine how Gwen would feel? Or Gaius!" She took in a breath. "Sometimes you have to do what you think is right and damn the consequences!"

He turned around, "You think I should go?"

"It doesn't matter what I think."

"What happens if I don't make it back? Who will rule Camelot if something happens to my father? There's more than just my life at stake here Morgana!"

"And would Camelot want a king who _only_did what his father told him to do, even if it was the wrong thing to do? Or a king would save a lowly servant, one of them, because he cares about the people, because it's the right thing to do?" She said, pulling his sword from it's sheath on the table, presenting it to him.

"Will you cover for me?"

"Don't I always?"

"I'm heading out tonight." Arthur said.

"Damn right you are. And if you didn't I would have gone instead."

Arthur scoffed, "Please, you wouldn't last a day without your precious mirror."

Morgana recognized the childish insult for what it was and said in response "I don't know Arthur, I did always beat you in sword fights when we were children. Actually, maybe I _should _go instead. I'd fare against any creature I might encounter better than you would anyways."

Arthur glared at her. "Oh shut up Morgana."

She snickered but stepped out of the room, only to pop her head out of the opening of the door and say "Oh, and Arthur, you might want to tone it down with the amount of food you consume at these feasts. It isn't becoming of a prince to be round in the belly, you know."

With that, she walked out of the room. Making her way back to Merlin and the physician's chambers as fast as was appropriate.

Gwen had already gone home, exhausted from the day's events. Morgana stayed with Merlin and Gaius a little while longer before she too made her way back to her own chambers. On her way there, she realized that she forgot her potion and looked back, but decided that she didn't want to bother nor distract Gaius. She wasn't really likely to get much sleep anyways.

{(O)}

Arthur nearly laughed out loud at the faces of the guards as he made his way out of Camelot's gates and into the forest, and they were left to dive-bomb out of the way of the horse. The guards were shocked that someone didn't immediately stop when they said "Halt!"

_Merlin would have gotten a kick out of that I bet. _Arthur thought_._When the image of the state of the manservant appeared in his mind, he grimaced but then set his jaw in determination, riding on through the dirt paths of Camelot's outer area to the forest of Balor, using a map he had found in his room.

{(O)}

Nimueh watched from her scrying bowl as Arthur rode out to the forest where she was hiding. Things were going spectacularly well. She had felt a small bit of remorse as she watched Merlin fall to the ground, but it was of no consequence. It _needed _to be done, didn't it?

{(O)}

Morgana bristled in her sleep and woke with a gasp, eyes fading from gold to green as she nearly let out a sob. She had another nightmare, and it was not a particularly good scene. She saw Arthur dead on the ground as a large reptilian creature similar to the one on Gauis' book feasted on his body, a woman cackling madly next to him. After that, she saw a man with a sphere of flaming light and a beard.

The last thing she saw was Merlin, sweating profusely in his bed, muttering strange words, a sphere of blue light, quite like the bearded man's, emanating from his palm before he died, and the light went out, leaving her in darkness as the world around her began to collapse, shaking violently.

Before she had even processed all of this however, she was already looking down at Merlin, alive (though not exactly well), in the darkness of Gaius' chambers, who was sound asleep on a nearby cot.

She nodded to herself in relief and walked back to her chambers, half asleep, and climbed back into her bed. She wouldn't remember any of what had occurred when she woke up in the morning very clearly, except for the mad cackling of the evil woman, and her eyes. Sad eyes.

The next morning was spent, for the most part, trying to distract Uther. Eventually, he _did _figure out what was going on and he reprimanded her harshly, but she took it with all the grace that a lady of the court should have. The rest of the day was spent with Gaius, helping him take care of Merlin, allowing Gwen to go home to take a nap as she was exhausted, having spent the entire morning cleaning up the remains of the feast.

On one occasion she thought that she had heard Merlin speak, and even imagined a light radiating from his hand, but Gaius had asked her to go fetch some water before she could see for certain. She shook it off however, there were more important things at stake than her hallucinations.

{(O)}

Arthur dismounted his horse, stretching. He tied his rope to a nearby tree and spoke to his steed "Here you go, take a break." He patted the horse's mane softly, and explored the surrounding area, leaving his horse to graze on the grass around it.

Arthur searched the area, but stopped short when he heard a piercing sob, unmistakable in the emptiness of the forest. He followed the cries, making his way to an open space, a large cave a couple of paces in front of him. His gaze led to a pretty girl with torn up clothing, red like the blood on her skin where she was cut up.

"Are you alright?" Arthur asked as he approached her. She didn't answer however, responding by releasing a blood-curdling scream, her eyes focusing on something behind him.

Arthur turned around as he unsheathed his blade, only to throw himself to the side as the creature lunged at him, large, ugly and not particularly friendly.

Pulling himself up, he crouched low, centering himself so as to avoid becoming victim to gravity's call. He stared the creature down as it sized him up. This went on for a time. He egged it on but pulled away at the last second every time.

Eventually the creature grew tired of games and screeched as it lunged at him. Arthur ducked, spinning around as the creature landed on the other side of him. He threw his sword then, watching with satisfaction as it impaled the creature with a _thud_, underlined by its hissing as life left it.

Sighing in relief, the prince turned around and saw the girl stepping away from him in fear and trepidation.

"It's alright," he assured her, "I'm not going to hurt you."

He took a notice of a jagged cut along her right arm. "Who did that to you? Was it the creature?"

She shook her head. "My master. I ran away but I got lost out here in the forest." After a moment she added, "Please don't leave me!"

"Don't worry," Arthur said, "I won't. I could take you to my kingdom after I collect a rare flower," he pointed at the cave a coupe of paces away, "from that cave there."

"The Mortaeus Flower?" She asked in recognition.

"Yes, that's the one."

"Well, I know where it grows. I could take you there if you like." The High Priestess in disguise offered. She began moving in the direction of the cave and Arthur followed, sure that she wasn't a threat.

They arrived at the mouth of the cave and Arthur took haste in producing two make-shift torches out of some branches and cloth from her torn cloak, since he had chosen to forgo his own red Camelot cape.

The two of them moved through the tunnels and pushed further and further into the eerie darkness. Finally, they arrived at a large opening and Arthur tested the ground he stood on. All around him, there didn't seem to be a discernible end to the darkness. The flower was on a wall of stone, perched on a ledge high up above him.

"Stay back, we'll be out of here soon." He instructed the girl. Nimueh nodded, biting her lip in an attempt to show concern.

Moving closer to the tip of the not-so-stable stone slab he stood on, he was already a lost cause. Nimueh began to chant in the Old Language, loosening the bonds between the pieces of stone below his feet, making his ground even less stable than before. Hearing her chant he turned around in confusion, struggling to maintain upright.

"What are you doing?" He shouted at her from a few feet away.

The witch kept on chanting with a smirk on his face and Arthur was forced to jump to the other side as the stone under him gave way to gravity. His torch fell for what seemed like an eternity into the dark pit of emptiness below him. His arms burned as he held on to the rough stone with one hand, his fingers being pricked by small pebbles.

"I expected so much more from the son of Uther Pendragon." Nimueh told Arthur with contempt. "I'm sorry it had to be this way, but your father brought this upon himself. And your future was so bright, too."

"Who _are _you?" he yelled across the chasm, lifting his right arm to grab the edge to which he was clinging desperately, now facing the wall entirely.

"The last face you'll ever see." She said darkly as she walked away. She took no pleasure in his futile screams like she thought that she would. The job was done however, and once she stepped out of the cave she was taken away by a gust of wind and dust. By the time the debris of her spell settled, she was in the Isle of the Blessed, smirking in satisfaction.

Meanwhile, Arthur groaned as he pulled himself up onto the edge of the rock. He laid down, gasping for a few minutes when he heard rapid scuttling heading in his direction. He groaned in despair. _Spiders, it had to be __spiders_.

It was then that a sphere of blue light materialized in front of him, granting him a chance at self-salvation and illuminating the area around him. The spiders were visible now, hairy and not particularly friendly, which was Arthur's favorite way to describe all of the threatening creatures that encountered. That is to say, all of them.

He looked up at the Mortaeus Flower and his goal was set. He hoisted himself up with a groan from the effort of supporting the weight of himself and of his armor. Morgana's joke about his weight the other night was now prominent in his mind, which would have been enough cause for him to chuckle were it not for the gravity of the situation.

The first thing to do was for him to discard his armor. Removing it quickly as he could, he dropped it down, satisfied when he heard it hit a spider. He kept his blade, just in case, but he also took off his glove to allow himself a better grip.

He began to climb up, paying no mind to his mounting exhaustion, nor how the rough stone cut and hurt his palms and fingers. All that mattered was getting to that damn flower so he could save his clotpole of a servant. But it wasn't just about Merlin's recovery anymore, Morgana made sure of that. Now it was about more than that. It was about whether he was a true friend, whether he was what a true king should be.

His lungs burned, but that was nothing compared to the white hot feeling in his arms as they struggled to maintain his weight. He would definitely be making the knight's training regime much stricter after this, just in case. He kept on climbing however, and soon, the Mortaeus Flower was within reach. On his first attempt to reach out to it with his right arm, he failed miserably. He was almost there but not quite. He grunted in frustration. He put all of his strength into the next one, pulling himself up one more time.

He felt the flower in his hand, and he pulled it from the roots. He put it into his pouch, careful not to drop it. He took a break grinning in triumph. He moved to make his upward climb once more, but the glowing orb, which he had come to rely on, dematerialized as quickly as it had materialized, and he was left in darkness.

Arthur curse to himself. He shouldn't have wasted time. He was lucky to have the light and should have used it to coordinate his climb, instead of celebrating. Now he was stuck. He tried to make his way up but he nearly slipped. If he couldn't see, then there was no way that he could make his way up, it would be too dangerous.

He held on longer, hoping, longing for some miracle. Not just for him, but for Merlin, for the Kingdom.

{(O)}

Gaius himself was, for the lack of a better phrase, freaking out. He honestly, for the life of him, had no idea what to do. He was scared, and he was desperate. Merlin convulsed on the bed for minutes on end before he finally went limp. The Court Physician, considered one of the best at his practices in lands beyond Camelot, diagnosed that the Warlock who he had taken up as his ward had but a day to live. He examined him again and again, but there wasn't much that he could do. The light in his palm went out and he no longer spoke, meaning that his mind had been shut down and he truly lost all conscience.

Morgana arrived with the herbs Gaius had asked for her to fetch. Gwen volunteered to be there with him but she had her own duties and Gaius did not want to put Merlin in front of her father in terms of priority. She insisted, but he was persuasive, and besides, her visits in the evening were enough to comfort the physician.

Morgana however, had a slightly more open schedule and was not very easily persuaded, so he put her to good use. Whenever he had to go and take care of other patients, he left his ward in her care, and whenever he needed anything, she would go get it without hesitation. Her loyalty to her friends was astounding, even to Gaius, and he was infinitely proud of her.

He took the herbs from her then, mixing them and using them to make all sorts of potions, trying to make anything that would counteract the poison. Though it was virtually useless. All it did was delay. But he would keep doing so without hesitation.

The king's ward ran her hand through Merlin's, admittedly soft hair and checked his temperature, cooling him off with a wet towel whenever she felt that he was getting too hot. Arthur had been gone for three days now, and everyone was beginning to get very concerned, Uther had already begun organizing for a search party, which was a bit unreasonable given that the Forest of Balor wasn't particularly close to Camelot. But she had faith, faith in her childhood partner in crime. He was her brother in all but blood, and Morgana knew that he would pull through.

Watching as evening quickly approached and the sun set in a warm glow, she contemplated on Merlin. Being near him for so long unlocked some memories. Well, not memories exactly. But dreams, unlikely things that she had seen. She had a feeling that there was more to Merlin than what he showed. According to the Court Physician, Merlin should have been dead the very night he was poisoned, and yet here he was. Fighting.

She shook her head, the other thing that she had occupied her time with was searching for that damn maidservant from Bayard's court. Kara. Unfortunately, however, her search turned up no results. For all intents and purposes, she never existed. Not even any of the actual staff of Bayard's servants had any real recollection of her.

Morgana focused her eyes back on the manservant who had quickly become a friend to all of Camelot over the past many months. She was angry. Angry at Uther for causing this. She simply couldn't believe what he had done. He forced Merlin to drink it. And Merlin, _idiot _that he is, did it willingly to save Arthur. Uther did not value the life of a servant. Only of those of noble blood. She scoffed, running her hand through his hair again idly.

There was nothing left to do. Nothing else she _could _do. Only wait. She hoped that Arthur would return sooner rather than later.

{(O)}

Arthur didn't know how much more time had passed, but he tried to keep climbing with only a little success. The spiders still had some distance to get to him but he was sure that within minutes, they would engulf him. He had proven himself worthy, but his next mission was to get the Mortaeus to Merlin and he would not fail. He refused to. His best efforts provided little fruit however, and he was preparing to fight the spiders when another sphere of illumination appeared, this time it was a fiery ball but it was accompanied by a voice.

"Climb, boy! Climb!" The voice was gruff, imbued with authority, it wasn't a suggestion, it was a command, one Arthur was very happy to follow. With the added visibility he was able to find a way up and he made short work of the rest of the climb. It seemed like forever but he finally reached the exit of the cave. A firm arm clasped his and he was pulled up.

He rolled onto the ground, thanking every deity that he knew for this stranger. Even though he had used magic to help him. At the thought Arthur shot up and watched the sorcerer wearily, who in turn was looking at Arthur, mildly impressed.

"What's your name, boy?"

"Conner." Arthur lied as smoothly as he could.

"How long were you down there?"

"I don't know. The sun was still out when I first entered through the mouth of the cave."

The man whistled. "How'd you get yourself down there?"

"A sorceress trapped me."

The man chuckled "A woman got the best of ya? Figures. You probably underestimated her. Don't make the same mistake again."

Arthur stared at him more keenly, noting the man's graying beard, thick but short. "And your name?"

"I am Balinor."

"You're a sorcerer?"

"Obviously. What does that have to do with anything?"

Arthur shook his head. "Nothing." He wasn't about to stab the man who had saved him and indirectly, Merlin.

At the thought, Arthur almost jumped in place. He had to get back to Camelot soon.

"I have to go," Arthur said, "I need to deliver something urgently."

Balinor nodded, "Would you like me to heal your wounds before you go?"

Arthur's skin bristled at the thought of magic being used on him. "No, it's fine. Thank you." The sensation was strange, he wasn't very used to thanking people, but this man had earned it. He wouldn't be telling father about this encounter. Ever.

As the fair-haired boy left, Balinor shrugged and kept on walking in whatever direction the winds decided to take him.

{(O)}

He rode at full gallop in intervals throughout the whole night, allowing his horse to rest and recover only the necessary amount of time before it was able to cover the next distance.

As he arrived at the gates of Camelot, a full troop of guards stopped him, and made him aware that his father had made a warrant for his arrest. A few minutes later, Arthur found himself tied up in a dungeon. Uther came to visit a couple of minutes later, not amused in the slightest. He presented the ingredient to him.

"Father, please, I don't care what you do, put me in the stocks for a week, but I beg you, take this to Gaius. I'm sure he'll know what to do with it."

Uther took the plant in his hands and contemplated it for a moment before crushing it with a tight fist and dropping it to the floor.

"You must learn Arthur." He said as he walked out of the dungeon.

{(O)}

Against Uther's will, Morgana was informed of Arthur's arrival and capture. She grinned. He did make it after all. All that was left to do now was make a plan. _Let me find Gwen _she thought to herself.

A few minutes later, Gwen was sneaking into the cell with a plate of food, heart beating rapidly in her chest.

"Prince's meal." She said quietly, having been stopped by a guard. The man nodded, letting her through.

Arthur was a sad sight. As a matter of fact, she found it very strange that he was being so rude to her now, especially after showing her such kindness a few days prior. At first, she assumed that he had failed, but she was glad to see not when she took back the plate which now had an additional item. A flower. She grinned at the prince.

Turning around she made her way out, but was halted by another guard. She watched nervously as he inspected the food on the tray. Finally though, he took a piece of bread and grinned "Waste not, want not." She smiled at him in response, relief flooding through her as she made her way back to Gaius' Chambers.

Gaius and Morgana received the flower with great urgency. They didn't really have much time to prepare the remedy.

But knowing that the potion would require a magical touch he asked the two girls to exit the room. Asking Gwen for some water and Morgana for a cup from the kitchens. Once they were gone, he tried enchanting the flower, but he failed. _I'm getting rusty, I'm afraid. _He thought.

Taking the time to crush the flower so that it may be more susceptible to enchantment, he panicked when he heard the two girls approaching his door. He tried enchanting it once more, trying to exert as much willpower and conviction as he could into the spell. The crushed flower glowed in a blue light as it became enchanted, the remedial properties it possessed becoming active just as the door was opened and they walked in.

Gaius worked on making the potion, and in a few moments time he was giving Merlin the antidote, who was in a very bad condition. The antidote was distributed and they waited with baited breath to see if something would happen, Morgana was stationed by Gaius' side and Gwen at the foot of the cot.

They waited for an entire minute, but as Merlin's breathing stopped and his pulse slowed, Morgana released a sob into Gaius shoulder as Gwen too shed a tear. They had been too late, too slow.

"That's disgusting, you should be ashamed of yourself, you're old enough to be her grandfather." Merlin said, trying to sit up in his make-shift bed. Everyone froze.

"What happened?" Merlin asked as they stared at him. He was thrown back again, however, as Morgana launched herself at him, hugging him tightly.

"Never die again, you _idiot_." She said into his shoulder. Releasing him with a beaming smile, Gwen also gave him a hug (one that hurt his ribs much less than Morgana's) and even Gaius offered him an embrace.

"I'm glad your alive." Gaius said, "I'd have hated to have to explain your death to Hunith."

Merlin scoffed, "Please, if I'm not around then who would clean your leech tank?"

Gaius, quite uncharacteristically, rolled his eyes in amusement.

{(O)}

Quite a ways away from Camelot, a young warrior pushed his body to the limit of its capabilities. Training day after day.

He spun in place, swinging his sword around him and stopped when it embedded itself halfway through a tree. Kicking the trunk, the tree fell to the ground. He pulled out his sword, sighing slightly as he pulled back his brown hair. Soon, soon he would join the Knights of Camelot, and serve the kingdom as its protector.

**A/N: Hello all! Another chapter, and quite a long one, actually. Clocking in at about 9k words. I hope that you enjoyed it. I should be updating at least weekly or bi-weekly from now on. Anyways, remember to let me know what you think, what I could improve on and what you would like to see happen. I'll take all of that into account when I write the upcoming chapters. Drop me a review if you can.**

**Oh! And Special thanks to my editor Manny, who is very diligent about getting these through the day he receives them. So yeah.**

**-Dom**


	6. Chapter 6

**A****/N: Here we go! This one was a tad bit harder for me to write because last chapter happened to be the **_**last**_** chapter from the un-edited version of this story, and so I had to write this one without another version to work off of. Anyways, I hope you enjoy, and as per usual I shall leave a slightly more extensive author's note down at the bottom. **

**Disclaimer: I'm a teenager in high school... trust me, I don't own Merlin. **

**{(O)}**

"_I look back on the past now, and I remember very acutely the words of my father. Of all of his sayings and pieces of advice, these are the words to which I hold so truly in this stage of my life. 'A true friend, is not a friend, he is family.' And now, who am I left with? Just one friend. _

_Uther has gone mad. There is no other way to explain it, he is mad with grief. I can't say I don't understand, given the...strenuous circumstances, but his actions were extreme to say the least. I'm not even sure that he is the same man I once knew. It is hard to reconcile the two. Not that I would call him a man at this point for truly, he has become nothing short of a demon. It all began two weeks before my own dear friend Gorlois (Gorly, as those of us close to him had taken to calling him), a loyal knight of Camelot, was killed, and I fear he may have been the first casualty of the things that would follow. _

_The people have taken to calling his chosen course of action (read: glorified temper tantrum) the '_**Great Purge**'. _Purge. Such a nasty word, for a nasty act. Uther was always ignorant, no one would have ever accused him of being particularly open minded. But to be this...evil? It was beyond the man I once called a friend of my own. _

_No longer. Not after he killed them. It started three days after Ygraine's death. He mourned for three days, barely even able to acknowledge his newborn son. We all worried. Nimueh took it very hard, she knew what would happen, of course, but she didn't know that it would be Ygraine to suffer at the hands of the Universe. I think that deep downed, she hoped that her own life would be forfeit for the young heir to be born, but I could be mistaken. We haven't spoken since the Yule celebrations. _

_It seems like it's been years since then, but no. Everything happened much, much faster than I could ever have imagined in my worst nightmares. In a matter of days, Uther turned into a cold, ruthless monster. He blamed Nimueh for what happened, sentencing her to be the first to die. Spurred into a rage she cursed the man and left us in a whirlwind (some of her more impressive magic, in my humble opinion). _

_Everything after that, happened just as suddenly as Nimueh disappeared in the Grand Hall that night. The executions were a blur, they were all mostly the same, only varying in severity depending on how betrayed the mad king felt by his people. He started with the nobles. His court was cut in half, and the number of families that had pledged allegiance to him had basically dropped by seventy percent, at least. He didn't care. After the nobles, it was everybody else's turn. Families were being robbed of mothers, fathers, daughters and sons left and right. I don't think I fully processed what was happening until I looked on as a young lad, probably no older than five, burned himself as he tried to save his parents from the pyre. After that, I didn't sleep soundly ever again. No one was safe, not even me or Gaius. _

_When we were summoned to the throne room one evening, I had a sneaking suspicion of what was going to happen. He had left me unharmed for weeks, and I didn't dare try to escape the castle. I knew he had guards on me at all times. He was waiting for me to make a move, and so I chose not to. But what he asked of me there, that was ungodly. It was disgusting. And I truly had no choice. No choice at all._

_That pitiful king looked had us thrown before him, on our knees. I looked him in the eyes, and I saw him for what he was now. Haunted, pained, angry. It was then that he spoke, unsheathing his blade and pointing it at Gaius. My heart stopped, and I barely heard his next words. _

_The day after that was hell. By the time the sun fell, there was only one dragon left, the Great Dragon, and he was chained to the caverns of Camelot. I don't know how to describe what I felt when I took the lives of all of my kin with my words, with my own sword. It _**disgusted **_me. I've never hated myself more than then, and I've never hated anyone more than Uther as I summoned Kilgharrah to his capture. _

_Through it all, though I had Gaius, who was forced to revoke a part of himself by Uther. It was he who saved me. When I had done the unspeakable, the unforgivable, Uther found that I had completed my purpose and he planned to burn me next. _

_The physician helped me escape and left me with provisions and a destination. He sent me to a small town on the border of Cenred's kingdom, Ealdor, where I find myself now, in the company of his niece, a beautiful and kind woman. She received me well enough, it was awkward at first, but now I find myself perfectly comfortable with her, and she has been a wonderful friend to me. I believe that I am falling in love with her, and perhaps her with me, but that is a story for another day._

_Indeed, friends are important, and I am thankful for the ones I have."_

Merlin closed the red book and took a deep breath, pondering upon what he had read. He had taking to skimming through a couple of his father's personal entries into the book in the morning as he ate his lunch with Gaius. It granted him a sense of peace knowing that his father was everything his mother told him he was, and also a sense of wonder as he learned more about Balinor's personality.

This book offered him more than just information, knowledge. It offered him the experience of his ancestors, their wise words, tales and stories. More importantly however, this allowed him to get to know his father, a luxury he had never had before, and it lifted a large weight off of his shoulder.

It would seem however, that the weight lifted from his shoulders manifested itself in the dusty old tome Gaius hit him with.

Merlin rubbed at the side of his arm "What was that for?!"

Gaius rolled his eyes. "For having your head in the clouds, child. I've been calling you for a solid minute now and you've yet to even touch your food. You've an errand to run for me and you must hurry before the sun leaves you. It's midday."

The Warlock grumbled but eagerly finished his meal, standing and pulling on his jacket as he moved to leave, taking the basket with him. "I'll be back soon, hopefully. You only need the usual herbs right?"

Gaius nodded, but added after a moment. "Actually, would you mind fetching me some mushrooms as well? They're a little deeper into the forest, so be careful please."

Merlin groaned but told Gaius that he would do so as he closed the door behind him.

Turning the corner, Merlin made his way through the main corridor that would take him to the courtyard. It wasn't the fastest way, but it was certainly the most beautiful way, and he could do with the sunlight. Dodging nobles and servants alike, he was making it to the end of corridor when a voice he had become quite familiar with over the past couple of months called out to him.

Turning around, he saw Morgana and Gwen walking towards him and he offered a smile, adjusting the basket in his hands.

"Milady." He bowed before Morgana who was decorated in a green dress. She threw him a glare for the greeting as he said hello to Gwen.

"So where are you off to Merlin? You look chipper this morning." The king's ward observed.

"Do I? Must be the weather." Merlin mused, "At any rate, Arthur doesn't have much for me to do," he said smirking, "he's stuck at a council meeting. So Gaius asked me to go fetch him some herbs."

"We could join you if you like, we were just heading down to..." Gwen offered, trailing off.

"My father's grave." Morgana finished.

Merlin grew sober at her words and nodded. "Of course, I'd be honored."

The lady smiled at him and Gwen watched with growing suspicion followed by elation which manifested itself in a squeak she had to smother. _Morgana __**likes**__ Merlin _she thought. At first the maidservant felt betrayed by Morgana, as she had confided in the early days of Merlin's arrival that she fancied him. As time passed however, Gwen found that she saw Merlin as more of a friend than a romantic figure.

Merlin and Morgana looked at her strangely for a moment before they all began to make their way down through the courtyard and to the lower towns. Morgana dismissed the guards assigned to her, saying that they wouldn't be necessary.

"Are you sure you don't want to take the horses Morgana? It'll take an hour to get there on foot." Merlin spoke up, dropping the use of titles now that they were away from the castle.

She shook her head. "It's a nice day out Merlin, and besides what harm would some walking do? Unless, of course, it's too much for your little legs to handle?"

Gwen snorted and Merlin scoffed at her. "It was more for your sakethan mine, _my lady_._"_

"You're _so_ selfless Merlin. It's astounding, really. And stop calling me that, we're out of the castle now."

"As you wish, _your highness_." He stated before he was forced to dodge the pebble that was tossed his way.

"Hey!" the Warlock exclaimed.

**{(O)}**

The rest of the trip went in the same pattern, with the three friends laughing and Merlin and Morgana trading barbs. On occasion they stopped so Merlin could collect some of the herbs that he needed to grab, but despite that they made it to the hill on which the grave was perched shortly.

They walked up the hill and Merlin analyzed their surroundings. He felt at peace, inhaling the clean, crisp spring air as his eyes roved over the surrounding landscape. It was in times like these that Merlin appreciated his new life fully.

"It's beautiful isn't it?" Gwen commented as she walked past him to stand a little bit nearer to her mistress in case she needed to be comforted at any point.

"Yeah." Merlin breathed out, standing a little ways away with his back turned to them in order to grant Morgana some privacy. He felt that he was already pushing some boundaries by being there at all.

"Merlin." Morgana called to him. "Come here."

Turning around, he was ready to cast a spell in case they were being attacked, but seeing that wasn't the case he walked to where the two women were by the stone grave under a tree, which granted them some protection from the sun's harsh rays.

"Is something wrong?" He asked, looking around carefully.

"No, but I wanted you to be here too." She said, pointing at a patch of grass to her right.

Merlin's eyes widened and he shook his head, "Milady, I can't. This is personal, your father's resting place. I couldn't."

"Don't be silly, Merlin. You're my friend. I want you to be here. Please?" She asked.

Merlin sighed and looked into her eyes, green like the leaves above them, searchingly. Finally he took a seat where she had pointed to, crossing his legs and watching the two women to his left. Morgana spoke to the gravestone, introducing Merlin.

The Sorcerer found himself fumbling out an introduction, "Err, hello. I'm Merlin, I'm one of Morgana's friends." He paused, Gwen nodded encouragingly. "From what she's told me, I'm sure you were a great man and I'm sorry I didn't have the chance to meet you." He finished, trying to sound more confident in his words than he really was.

His words were awkward and hesitant. He wasn't sure what to say to a man he'd never met before, let alone to one who was no longer among the living, but he found the words to say in Morgana's eyes.

She smiled at him. Morgana knew that it was never really an easy thing to do, especially since she had sprung this up on Merlin very suddenly, but she felt the need to introduce her not-so-new friend to her father. Merlin had quickly become her best friend right next to Gwen in the time that he had been in Camelot, and when he almost died a few weeks before, she panicked at the idea of losing somebody else close to her.

She disengaged herself from her thoughts and rambled to her father about the events that had transpired in the last couple of months. Merlin and Gwen didn't really listen in to her intimate and one sided conversation, each lost in their own thoughts.

A while later, Morgana finished with a shaky sigh. Merlin patted her back comfortingly.

"What was his name?" Merlin asked, not being able to decipher it from the gravestone as it was written in Latin, a language he had yet to learn.

"Gorlois." She said, looking up at the sky.

Merlin nodded, but then perked up. "Gorlois? I was reading my father's journal earlier this afternoon, he was friends with him. He was a knight, wasn't he?"

"A lord, but yes, he served in the Knighthood of Camelot. Did your father really know him?"

Merlin nodded, omitting the part about Gorlois being a "casualty" of Uther's Purge for the moment.

"You don't really speak about your family often Merlin." Gwen observed as Morgana nodded her agreement.

"There's not much to say. As you know, I lived with my mum in Ealdor until I decided to come here, to Camelot."

"And of your father?" Morgana inquired tentatively.

Merlin shrugged, "I never knew him. I'm not even sure if he's alive right now. But my mother gave me his journal before I left Ealdor."

Morgana smiled at him sympathetically. "You might meet him someday, hopefully."

Merlin nodded. "Someday."

Standing up, he assisted his two friends in rising and they walked to the edge of the slope, where Morgana tried to find amusement in making Merlin lose his balance.

His foot caught on hers and he was soon at gravity's mercy, before he fell completely, however, he managed to grab onto Morgana's wrist as she smirked and they both rolled down the slope while Gwen roared with laughter.

Carefully, she walked down the slope and met them at the bottom, where Merlin tried to dust dirt off of his jacket in vain and Morgana sat by him laughing.

"Laugh it up, _your highness_, but I'm not the one whose hair is ruined." He said, poking her shoulder as he stood up.

"I don't really care, Merlin." She said, grinning.

"Really? With the amount of time you spend combing it, one would think that it was the most precious thing in the world." He said as they all rejoined the main path.

"So you've been watching me comb my hair, have you Merlin?" Morgana said impishly.

Merlin flushed. "Please, I have better things to do, Morgana."

"Yes, you do, like fetching Gaius his herbs, which you have neglected to do thus far." She pointed out.

"Oh, that's right!" Merlin smacked his forehead. "I still have to grab the mushrooms."

Morgana smirked. "Lead the way."

"You don't have to come if you don't want to." He said.

"I'm aware of that Merlin, I'm _the king's ward_. I could do what I want. And I want to go."

"Alright, alright. Follow me, it shouldn't be too far into the forest."

They walked off the path and into the tree line, keeping an eye out for mushrooms.

"How about these?" Gwen asked as she spotted a couple of them bunched up near a tree root.

"Are those the type that would kill you if you ate them?" Merlin shouted back from his spot a couple of feet away near a clearing.

"Err, yes...I think."

"Good. Pass a couple this way." Merlin said as he neared her.

"Why would you want poisonous mushrooms?" Morgana asked incredulously.

"I haven't the faintest. It's what Gaius asked of me though, so I shall do as I am told." He chirped, but then paused. "But then again, _milady_, after that little stunt you pulled on the hill, I might find _another_ use for them." He said sinisterly, placing them in a small bag inside of his basket.

Morgana rolled her eyes as Gwen giggled. "Jokes on you, _manservant_. I hate mushrooms anyways, so I would never eat them of my free will, and besides-"

It was then that they heard a screech. At first Merlin thought it might have been a person crying out for help, but as he turned around it became very clear that the thing that produced that sound was not human. Namely because it was running straight towards them on all fours, feathers rustling in the eastward wind as its beak opened, ready to tear one of their throats out.

Time stopped around him and he was able to take into account that Gwen was a little ways away from them, to the right, but that Morgana was right in its line of sight. As time came back into place all around him like a jigsaw puzzle falling into position, his decision was made. Pushing her back he jumped in front of the king's ward, crying out with a guttural noise as it swiped at his chest with its claws, sharp and long like daggers.

As he fell to the ground he heard his name being shrieked out and his sight began to blotch with black dots. He groaned, reality slipping away from his grasp before it quickly came rushing in again. He managed to pull himself closer to the basket as he heard a new voice enter the clearing.

"Get back!"

Merlin couldn't see very well, his sight blurred by the pain he felt on his torso. He noted however, that the newcomer was defending Gwen, circling the beast. He was strong and had brown hair that reached down to broad shoulders. A fighter. Merlin tried to sigh but it came out as a pained groan.

Gentle hands tightened their grip on his arm as he looked up and saw that it was Morgana who was holding him. He tried to speak, but words failed him. She leaned in to him, trying to listen to what he was breathing out.

"Mushrooms, get the mushrooms." Were the last words he was able to say before he lost his grip on wakefulness, some very unfortunate last words looking back in retrospect.

Morgana's eyes widened in realization and she looked up from Merlin's now unconscious form. She stood and grabbed a handful of the mushrooms and ran to where Gwen stood and watched as the man and the creature circled each other.

The daughter of Gorlois called out to the stranger. "We need to get its mouth open!"

The only sign she received from the stranger that denoted the fact that he had heard her at all was a grunt of acknowledgment before he charged at the creature.

The beast cawed at him, rising on its two back legs and Morgana saw her opportunity, tossing the mushrooms in her hand into its mouth. Only four or five of the dozen she had thrown had made it in but it seemed to be enough as it promptly began doing what she could only assume was a cough.

It lowered its front claws to the ground and bristled in discomfort. Seeing his chance, the man struck at its neck with a hefty swing, only to have his sword shatter in his hands. The animal didn't acknowledge his strike and the stranger's eyes widened.

"Run! RUN!" He shouted to them as it began to become less agitated, pupils dilating as it's eyes found themselves locked onto the group.

Morgana nodded her head to Gwen and stopped the man. "My friend, Merlin, he's over there, he's unconscious. We have to save him!"

He nodded his head. "Alright." Running up to where she had left Merlin, he threw him over his shoulder and began running, instructing the girls to follow him.

Grabbing the basket on the ground, Gwen and Morgana made haste in following him, sparing the occasional glance back to see if the beast was in pursuit. Once they had run quite a ways away they stopped, breathing heavily.

"Do you think it's still chasing us?" Gwen asked the man who introduced himself as Lancelot.

He shook his head. "No, this area we're in is too dense with trees for a creature so big."

"What was that thing anyway?" Morgana asked, now trying to fruitlessly wake Merlin.

"I'm not sure. But my sword couldn't kill it. It must be powerful."

"Well thank you for saving us Lancelot. If it weren't for you, I'm afraid we wouldn't be alive right now."

"No, no. If it weren't for those mushrooms I don't think I would have been able to strike it at all." Lancelot deflected.

Gwen nodded enthusiastically, looking over to where Morgana was, stationed with Merlin's head on her lap. "That was good thinking milady."

Morgana smiled. "It wasn't my idea, it was Merlin's."

Lancelot looked at the unconscious form with a measure of respect. "His idea might have been the difference between life and death for us. What happened to him?"

"That _thing_ was going to attack me. He jumped right in front of it like a fool, naturally." Morgana bit her lip. "Maybe we should get the wound wrapped. Just in case."

"It was a very brave thing to do." Lancelot nodded as Gwen looked around for something to wrap the wound with.

"Milady, I don't have anything to wrap it with."

Lancelot stood and pulled something out of a satchel he had slung around his shoulder. "Here," he offered, taking a seat again. "Use this blanket, it should work."

Gwen took it and her breath caught in her throat as she took in his face in detail for the first time since they had met a couple of minutes prior. He was handsome with sharp but gentle features and a strong jaw. She had been impressed with his courage, having jumped in to protect them without a second thought for himself. She wasn't the only one staring however, as Lancelot's heart began to beat faster and faster the deeper he explored into her chocolate brown eyes.

Oblivious to the tension next to her, Morgana asked "So Lancelot, where are you heading?" as she took the brown material from Gwen and made quick work of wrapping it around Merlin, blushing briefly when she had to remove his shirt.

Lancelot cleared his throat and looked away from Gwen who was quite flustered. "I'm heading to Camelot."

**A/N: so so so sorry for the delayed post. And such a damn short chapter but I've had some whirlwind plans made recently. But at any rate thanks to my editor Manny and to my reviewers for keeping me going!**

**-Dom**

**PS: Sorry if this one isn't up to the usual standards I try to maintain for myself. Let me know what you thought please! **


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